The MENA region is particularly impacted by the adverse effects of climate change in every possible way. Children, women, indigenous communities, properties, crops and ecosystems are daily being reduced to mere figures and stories of climate change victims. They are our sisters, our brothers, our homes, our livelihood, our serenity and our culture.

Rich countries and the fossil fuel industry are the big polluters who bear the historic responsibilities for these losses and damages. It is time to hold them accountable. We need:

• Rich countries to pay compensation for the loss and damages suffered by impacted communities in developing and poor countries. Source of funding should include taxes and penalties from major climate polluting companies such as international oil companies who have record annual profits in billions of USD
• Rich countries to fulfil and expand their finance pledges to support developing and poor countries in order to adapt to climate change and transition towards renewable energy 
• Developing countries to avoid replicating the destructive Western model of ‘development’ responsible for the climate crisis and invest in alternative development pathways away from fossil fuel and that are locally attuned and culturally relevant

We need climate justice.

To: Rich Countries