The Climate Change Challenge and the Philippines

If global temperature increases by 1.8 to 2.2 Celsius, the sea level would rise. It already is rising higher than the global average in the Philippines. This combined with extreme rainfall and storm surges, the majority of the population residing in cities along its vast coastlines will be permanently inundated.

Already located in the world’s most cyclone-prone region, climate change will bring a wetter rainy season and a drier dry season causing crop loss, increased landslide risk, water shortages, damage to infrastructure, etc. Rising food prices, increased risk of waterborne diseases will increase the suffering of the urban poor.

Climate Risks
Increased heat will reduce agricultural output due to floods, droughts, and pest infestation. Worse, there will expectedly be loss of arable land and irrigation water to salinity. The resulting soil erosion will cause a drastic reduction in crop productivity.

Reduced river flows and water levels during the dry season will deteriorate water quality and result in water shortages. During the monsoon season, extreme rainfall will increase floods and landslides that degrade watershed health. Worse, there will be a saltwater intrusion of freshwater coastal aquifers and sedimentation of reservoirs.

Loss of livelihoods among fishermen and related cottage industries is a huge threat with increased ocean acidification, the collapse of coral reefs and mangrove habitats. The shifts in adult fish distribution and the reproduction cycle will decrease fish stocks.

Climate change will not only threaten the livelihoods of many Filipinos but increase health risks emanating from waterborne diseases such as dengue, diarrhea, and malaria. Coupled with malnutrition and poor access to health care systems, climate change could result in disastrous loss of lives.

Highly Vulnerable
The Philippines is highly exposed to natural hazards such as typhoons, floods, and droughts. Its natural resources are climate sensitive. With the majority of its population residing near its vast coastlines, it will be among the most vulnerable to the global impact of climate change. More than half of its GFG emissions come from the energy sector. This effectively shows that the development of renewable energy is where one of the major climate change programs should be.

The Philippines is one of the largest producers of geothermal energy in the world after the US, Mexico, and Indonesia. But geothermal energy only supplies about 12 percent of the country’s energy needs with a long-term plan of doubling capacity by 2040.
With more than 70 plants in operation, hydropower provides about 16 percent of its energy supply. The largest model of hydropower production is the dam-type plant followed by pumped storage complex and run-of-river installations.

Due to its geographical location, the country is gifted with abundant sunlight for most of the year. Solar energy provides a valid solution to the growing energy needs of the Philippines. The key advantages of solar power are that it is a proven technology as a very viable source of clean energy, and it is now more affordable than ever.

Global Impact of Climate Change
The effects of climate change will be felt and experienced the world over. We may already be in the midst of it. Heatwaves, droughts, floods, wildfires, heavy rainfalls afflict us all today. It is generating costly societal disruptions. Changing atmospheric GFG concentrations will increase temperatures, raise sea levels, acidify the oceans imperil natural ecosystems and trigger a chain reaction of severe and adverse climate change events worldwide.
Upscaling climate change solutions is in dire need more than ever from all sectors of society and from every corner of the planet.

The Philippine Climate Change Center (PC3)
It is proposed that a Climate Change Center is established in the Philippines as soon as possible. This can be a joint effort between the government and the business sector.

The mission of the PC3 is to promote awareness, learning, and action programs that upscale climate change solutions like decarbonization through the adoption of green architecture, green farming, and green energy. The PC3 will showcase all these on its premises and expound further on details of climate risks through workshops and seminars.

The key vision is to harness the collective power of the business community to generate the requisite action programs to achieve the climate risks mitigation and adaptation goals of the Paris Agreement of 2015 as guided by the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. In addition to requiring the inclusion of ESG metrics as key performance indicators of individual executives and businesses, the PC3 will endeavor to work towards a unique climate change threshold concept to calculate and manage the transition risks for Philippine businesses in their journey toward net-zero carbon operations.

Rogelio Saldo Chua
Contributor

References:
1. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
2. www.international-climate-initiative.com/en/topics/un-climate-change-conference-2022-cop-27-in- egypt/
3. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/philippines-country-most-risk-climate-crisis
4. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/722241/climate-risk-country-profile-philippines.pdf
5 https://climate.gov.ph/
6. https://climate.emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NCCAP-1.pdf
National Climate Change Action Plan (2011–2028)
7. https://climatechange.denr.gov.ph/
8. https://www.energy.gov/combating-climate-crisis Combating the Climate
Crisis
9. https://www.doe.gov.ph/sites/default/files/pdf/pep/PEP_2020-2040_signed_01102022.pdf?withshield=1 Philippine Energy Plan 2020-2040