<p>Climate change and its impacts could no longer be viewed as mere environmental concerns. Climate change is now a reality in the daily lives of the people in the ASEAN region, as their livelihoods and means of sustenance, their habitats, their communities and resources which are their lifeblood are threatened.&nbsp; A fundamental reality in the current climate crisis is that the majority, especially the poor&mdash;particularly women&mdash;who have consumed less and contributed very little to the climate crisis, are the ones that are greatly affected by its impacts.</p>

<p>The super-rich and the mega-powerful have apportioned the world into their own exclusive domains: huge private oil fields, mining sites, fishing grounds, timberlands, and agro-industrial regions. The privatization of public resources&mdash;and their attendant exploitation, exhaustion, and destruction&mdash;has been egregious to the planet and its inhabitants.</p>

<p>At the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, 14 international, regional and national press freedom organisations are calling on world leaders to protect environmental journalists and give them access to the information they need to cover climate change and the environment.</p>

<p>A Southeast Asian network of fisherfolk and non-government organizations is spearheading a series of forums with regional government bodies to push for changes in current measures to address climate change in the region.</p>