Climate-Vulnerable Philippines Plans to Declare Climate Emergency

According to a United Nations report, the Philippines had the highest number of disaster events from 2000 to 2019.

China ranks first with 577 disaster events, followed by the United States with 467, India with 321, the Philippines with 304, and Indonesia with 278 (Cabico, 2020).

The Philippines also belongs to the top 10 list of countries with a total population (149 million) affected by disasters and the top 10 nations affected per 100,000 inhabitants from 2000 to 2019. 

The country also ranks 5^th in the Climate Index Risk (CRI) as one of the most affected countries by climate-related events from 1998 to 2017 (Cabico, 2020).

The disasters that took place were due to a significant increase in climate-related events like storms, floods, landslides, droughts, and wildfires.

The rising number of climate-related disasters is a stark reminder of the real threats of climate change. Future projections of increasing and intensifying climate-related disasters should compel countries worldwide to address climate change urgently.

With current policies, the world is on a path to a 3.2°C increase in global temperature by the end of the century, higher than what the countries pledged during the Paris Agreement to limit global warming below 2°C, preferably at 1.5°C.

To meet the Paris Agreement pledges, countries would need to reduce emissions by 7.2% annually for ten years.

Read the entire article here: Philippines among countries most affected by disasters since 2000- UN report.

A House committee in the Philippine Congress approved Resolution 535, authored by Representative Jose Maria Salceda from Albay, seeking to declare a disaster and climate emergency in the country. Resolution 535 seeks “broader international climate justice and local resilience” (Atienza, 2020).

Salceda states, “by declaring a climate emergency, the Philippines can leverage its position as an emerging market and a potent labor source for new industrialization to pursue an official foreign policy of international climate justice”.

During the hearing, Salceda said a climate emergency declaration would strengthen the country’s leverage to seek concessions from heavily industrialized economies (Atienza, 2020).

The resolutions will also ensure that government expenditures include resilience and disaster preparedness.

“HR No. 535 urges the House of Representatives to ensure the full integration and convergence of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts through the passage of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) bill as an urgent policy response”.

PHOTO CREDIT:

By U.S. Geological Survey Photograph taken by Richard P. Hoblitt. – Archived source link, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=545018

By NASA, LAADS Web, HDF File processed by Supportstorm – http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/browse_images/mid.html…, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35700633