On World Environment Day, climate justice and clean energy advocates across Asia held creative protests and solidarity actions to challenge the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s continued support for fossil fuels and market-driven climate schemes and call on the region’s top energy funder to choose real, community-driven climate solutions.
Carrying a giant globe with community-built renewable energy structures, 350 Pilipinas led a creative action in front of the ADB’s headquarters in Mandaluyong City, Philippines where the Asia Clean Energy Forum (ACEF) is being held.
Dancing and chanting to jazz music, the advocates called for a just energy transition grounded in ecological integrity, Indigenous wisdom, and energy democracy. Dressed as fireflies, they drew attention to these insects as indicator species—living signals of ecosystem health whose fading presence warns of deeper ecological harm.
Each year, the ADB gathers government leaders, the private sector, and other stakeholders in the ACEF to advance clean energy across the region. However, civil society has long criticized the ACEF for being dominated by private sector interests and corporate-driven decarbonization models that marginalize frontline communities and grassroots innovations.
