By signing the Paris Agreement on April 22, 2016 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Philippines committed, together with other countries, to reduce the polluting greenhouse gases that are causing our climate system to go haywire. Energy, agriculture, transportation and waste accounts for a large portion of these sources of dangerous emissions, with dirty coal as the biggest, said to account for 35% of the global greenhouse gas discharges.
To show our sincerity in complying with our obligations under the intended Nationally Determined Contribution in said Agreement, and in a much, although a belated move late in his presidency, President Aquino recently signed the resolution mainstreaming the use of renewable energy and shifting it away from its lamentable coal policy.
This major energy policy shift is seen to be happening in six months and should boost the demand for this most vulnerable country to the dire impacts of climate change, to catch up with the rest of the world and follow the carbon-free path to sustainable development. There is no other option.
What happens to the approved coal power plants? It should be borne in mind that obtaining a contract with government is a privilege which may be withdrawn if public interest demands it. This is already a deeply embedded jurisprudence which every lawyer and public official for that matter is expected to know.
How we choose to respond to climate change, considered the most serious threat to all, is indeed a grave public interest issue as our very own survival is at stake.
In the first place, our legal framework to maintain a healthful and balanced ecology and a respect for the right of each citizen to a healthy environment and a good climate system is strong and should have been respected and considered in decision-making
We are teetering on the edge of ecological disaster, with the felt changes already commanding us to act decisively and fast. I read that April’s temperatures surpassed last year’s and was the hottest. This year had the warmest winter ever.
Did we not have the hottest summer, with humans and non-humans dropping dead because of heatstroke? Did we not experience the long drought that wrought havoc to farmers and plants and made us more aware than ever of a crippling water crisis that we now must face and find long-term solutions to? The oceans are warmer and the beginning bleaching of corals is certainly worrisome.
Taking action to stem the dire impacts of climate change takes two forms: mitigation, or reducing the use of green house gases; and adaptation, which means coping with or adjusting to the various effects of the changed climate system like sea level rise and extreme weather conditions. The objective is to strengthen the capacity of both people and our ecosystems to withstand the pressures and be resilient. Awareness of the causes, effects and solutions, is a must.
Capacity-building is another and this requires strong collaboration from stakeholders in the public and private sectors and, of course, the civil society organizations. Finding solutions, most of which are nature-based, should be participatory, with local residents encouraged to be deeply involved as they know their community best.
It is appalling that there are local government units which have not been taken to account for their gross failure in crafting climate change action plan and disaster risk reduction and management plans, aside from a whole plethora of plans required by various environmental laws and housing regulations such as an updated and comprehensive land use plan which already integrates the climate change response.
These LGUS can and should be held accountable for such failure or by their wrongful implementation of the climate and DRRM laws such as purchasing equipment without any approved plans. Their lack of prioritization of this matter may be considered as having placed the lives of their constituents in danger, knowing very well that we are one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change.
Typhoons Yolanda, Pablo and Sendong, among other typhoons that ravaged the most marginalized, proved the helplessness of an inadequately prepared population to the fury of nature. It is sad to think of preventable deaths had there been massive measures taken to make constituents more resilient in the face of disasters such as storm surges and stronger typhoons.
We urge our public officers and employees in both national and local governments to get out of the business-as-usual mind-set and look at nature as the best solution for the land, air, water and climate woes that we have callously and mindlessly inflicted upon our race and the living resources of our only home planet. Comply with your mandate of protecting the people’s rights to life, livelihood, health and a healthful and balanced ecology. Perform the mandates required especially under various environmental laws.
Stop the wanton destruction of our already devastated life support systems. Doing so is an act not just of self-immolation but an ecocide, a crime against humanity.
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