While COVID-19 continues to present significant challenges worldwide, addressing the climate issue cannot be neglected. The rapid climate change caused by human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, which increases the greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere that warms our planet, is alarming. Man-made global warming is already impacting our country and may get even worse in the future if people do not move. The future depends on the activities of the present.
THE EARTH IS WARMING
In the latest assessment of the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published last September 14, the global temperature for August 2021 was the sixth-warmest August since record-keeping began 142 years ago.
Global surface temperature in August 2021 was 0.90 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 15.6°C degrees Celsius. It was the second warmest after August 2016, if the only global land surface temperature was considered.
Due to climate change, the brightness of the Earth also has been reduced over time. According to the American Geophysical Union (AGU). In a study, the scientists warned that warmed ocean waters are causing fewer bright clouds to reflect sunlight to space, making the Earth even dimmer.
Based on the data from Climate Watch, the world's top three greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters are China, the European Union, and the United States, contributing 41.6 percent of total global emissions. Two-thirds of global GHG emissions come from the top 10 emitters.
The energy sector, including electricity, transport, manufacturing, fossil fuels, and others, is the most significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since 2013, energy emission growth has slowed, while emissions from land-use change and forestry remain high. Emissions from various sectors continue to increase, such as agriculture (increased by 12%), industrial emissions (increased by 180%), and waste (increased by 16%). To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, all sectors must reverse the increasing trend and rapidly reduce emissions to net-zero by 2050.
GLOBAL WARMING TO PH
In the past ten years, the Philippines lost P506.1 billion due to climate-related hazards, and it accounts for 98.2 percent of the country's estimated losses, which is P515.51 billion, from 2010 to 2020. According to the Department of Finance (DOF), this amount is equivalent to the annual average of P48.9 billion, which is 0.33 percent of the yearly average of the Philippines' Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to DOF. Despite only a 0.3 percent contribution to the planet's total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Based on the 2020 World Risk Index, the Philippines ranked 9th out of 181 nations in the world as the most affected country from extreme weather events, and according to the Global Climate Risk index 2021, the Philippines ranked 4th among ten countries most severely hit by extreme weather events from 2000 to 2019.
Being an archipelago, the country is also highly vulnerable to rising sea levels due to global warming. Based on satellite observations, the level of the Philippines’ surrounding seas has increased at a rate of 5.7-7.0 mm/year from 1993 to 2015, which is twice the highest global average rate of 2.8-3.6 mm/year observed between 1993 and 2010.
Sea level rise, which has been identified by the CCC’s reconstituted National Panel of Technical Experts (NPTE) as among the top 10 climate-induced risks in the country, is putting 64 coastal provinces, 822 coastal municipalities, and 25 major coastal cities at extreme risk, according to the DOF.
The country lost about 68 percent and 82 percent corals and seagrass cover, respectively, from 2009-2016, which had been exacerbated by climate change impacts, such as coral bleaching and ocean acidification. This has contributed to the dwindling fish catch as commercial fish move from warm to cooler and deep waters.
PH TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Since the Philippines is located in the typhoon belt and the pacific ring of fire, the country is being climate-vulnerable which is frequently visited by typhoons with an average of 20 tropical cyclones annually, causing losses and damages equivalent to 0.5 percent of annual GDP as a result of rising unpredictable climate, DOF said.
To mitigate this devastating impact of global warming, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who is the Chairman-Designate of the Climate Change Commission (CCC), serves as the head of the Philippine delegation to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland.
At the opening of the virtual 2021 Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) last October 26, he called out Western countries who contribute the most greenhouse gases to make urgent and concrete actions such as investments and subsidies needed by the climate-vulnerable countries to reduce carbon emissions.
In his speech at COP26 last Tuesday, Dominguez discussed the effects of climate change on millions of Filipinos and the government's efforts, such as banning single-use plastics and the transition from coal to clean energy, to mitigate the consequences of climate change.
Dominguez also highlighted the recently released Sustainable Finance Roadmap, which will serve as a model to encourage other countries to adopt appropriate policies to promote the transition to a clean, sustainable, and climate-resilient economy.
COP26 is a 12-day conference that brings 10,000 negotiators, government leaders, businesses, and individuals that aim to address climate change issues by working together to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and raise funds to achieve these goals.
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Written by: Pamela Peñalver
Layout and Design by: Dan Kurt Buenaventura
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