Get to know our March 2025 cover stars, the alliance of young changemakers calling for climate justice, Youth Advocates For Climate Action Philippines.
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Issues of climate are issues of people, and this organization in the spotlight knows this well. The Youth Advocates For Climate Action Philippines (YACAP) is an alliance of organizations, collectives, student councils and young individuals that advocates for immediate global climate action. Youth-founded and youth-led, the organization is one of many around the world that proves that this generation is at the forefront of the struggle for climate action—and all the world needs to do is listen and address the issues that have them fearing for their future.
As our March 2025 cover stars, YACAP represents a generation that’s had enough of the way people and planet have been suffering. From standing in solidarity with marginalized communities to participating in discussions at global climate conferences, advocating for sustainability in style to calling for accountability from people in power, YACAP walks the talk and urges Filipino youth to protect the environment and the people that depend upon it. The kids really are alright.
Get to know YACAP through our interview below with the organization’s current National Coordinator and full-time climate activist Rachelle Junsay!
STANDING STRONG FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET, WITH YACAP
Tell us about Youth Advocates For Climate Action Philippines!
YACAP started in 2019 after recognizing the need for a broad youth-based alliance that would fight for climate justice amidst worsening conditions, especially in vulnerable countries like the Philippines. We believe that the youth should be at the forefront of this struggle, joining forces with the most impacted sectors, as we will inherit this Earth in the future.
We conduct monthly onboardings to recruit and expand membership for individuals, organizations, and student councils while simultaneously offering educational discussions about the climate, inside and outside of the organization. To properly engage with the masses and other sectors, we also frequently join mobilizations to exchange stories and strengthen intersectional calls for our advocacies.
What are YACAP’s main advocacies and how are these advocacies upheld and realized?
There are 5 points of unity for all members and member organizations of YACAP: Climate Justice, Urgent Climate Action, Youth-led Collective Action, Defend our Environmental Defenders, and System Change.
These points encapsulate the hows and whys of our advocacy for climate justice—recognizing the problem, collectivizing the fight with our fellow youth and environmental defenders, and wanting genuine change to save our society. These are realized and upheld through our regular activities like EDs, speaking engagements, and on-ground and online campaigns. We also have major events like the annual Fashion Against Fascism and Fossil Fuels (FAFFF) and basic mass-integrations in partner communities.
What are your biggest or most highlighted projects and initiatives throughout the year?
Our most highlighted project is our yearly flagship event Fashion Against Fascism and Fossil Fuels which started in 2022 along with the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1972 Martial Law Declaration. We also regularly and actively participate in global climate school strikes and at COP as part of our international campaign efforts for climate justice.
Though these events are some of the highlights of YACAP, I actually would like to put more emphasis on our regular activities: regular educational discussions, basic mass integrations (BMIs), mobilizations, and our yearly campaigns. The daily mundane and routine activities that we do are the bread and butter that propels YACAP’s growth and the qualitative, material change that we want for society as an organization. Without these, we wouldn’t actually have the enormous support of the youth to pull off any successful project like FAFFF—big events like these are the culmination of our daily struggle that needs grit and dedication.
Describe the kind of person that joins YACAP or its member organizations.
A YACAP member will always display the following qualities: principled and ready for action. The climate crisis is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed and our members heavily recognize this fact.
What prompted you to join YACAP specifically and join a leadership position?
I was first introduced to YACAP during the pandemic, with their posts floating around my social media feed. As someone who already cared for the environment, their calls for climate justice intrigued me, so I joined to learn more. I then attended the EDs, participated in several activities as a volunteer for write-ups and pubmats, and even taught some EDs on my own. The leaders of that time saw my potential and tapped me for leadership roles, and now I’m here.
Why do you think the youth specifically are more inclined to be vocal and proactive towards issues of climate justice?
I believe it’s the recognition that we can’t dream of a future when it’s already being destroyed in the present. We are all working hard in our studies and dreaming of being good contributors to society, as our families also dream for us. Our immediate surroundings have taught us that our future is ours to build, and in this case, ours to save.
What are the most pressing issues regarding climate justice that desperately need to be addressed? What is required to address such issues?
To put it simply, I think the most pressing issues we need to address are, 1) the need to stop the proliferation of destructive practices that causes the climate crisis, and 2) the societal injustices that permit these practices in the first place.
First, we know that the cause for the climate crisis is the exploitation of the environment by a select few for profit, such as Big Oil, deforestation, land use conversion, and so on. Such practices must immediately be stopped to prevent the further worsening of the climate crisis.
Secondly, this exploitation of the environment is built upon the wider culture of exploitation of our farmers, fisherfolk, workers, indigenous peoples, and women by the Global North towards the Global South. This is through land grabbing and unequal politico-economic agreements between nations that are a product of a long history of colonialism and foreign domination. Without addressing this base of exploitation by capitalism—that some lives are more expendable than others in the name of profit—there will never be any genuine climate justice.
How does YACAP and its members perceive the interconnectedness of climate issues and other sociopolitical and economic issues in current Filipino society? How do you help others come to the understanding that it is all connected?
As an alliance, YACAP has always partnered with other sectors, especially those who are more vulnerable to climate disasters (the urban poor, the farmers, the fisherfolk, women, and children). Through these interactions, we perceive the interconnectedness of our struggles—how they root in sociopolitical and economic issues. This is also why we call for a system change as a point of unity. “There is no climate justice without ______ justice,” and you can insert a lot of things there, and it will make sense.
For that matter, why is it important to formulate an understanding that everything—climate, environment, people, justice, politics, community, issues involving class or gender—is connected and requires collective action?
It is the masses that create history. No movement can progress if it is not supported by the general public. This is why YACAP was created. We stand at the forefront of this climate movement to unite the calls of the people. We serve as a platform so others can hear the lived experiences of the vulnerable sectors, to inform and encourage other people to stand in solidarity with us, for us.
Images courtesy of YACAP.
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