Environment groups move for healthy, balanced ecology

MANILA, Philippines - Environmentalists yesterday staged a mobilization in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Quezon City to urge the public to affirm their constitutional right to a healthful and balanced ecology on the occasion of World Environment Day.

“We challenge the government to continue the initiatives pursued by the DENR, not just on mining, but also in other issues like curbing emissions, clean energy, waste management, protecting biodiversity and reforestation,” said Norie Garcia, head of the secretariat of Green Thumb Coalition.

Green Thumb Coalition also criticized US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of support to the Paris climate agreement.

The Paris climate agreement, signed by 195 nations, aims to transform the world’s fossil fuel-driven economy within decades and slow the pace of a global temperature increase to below two degrees Celsius.

Environmentalists said Trump’s decision is a blatant neglect of the United States’ historical responsibility in the climate crisis, owed to centuries of unbridled greenhouse gas emissions and its support for dirty energy and development policies across the globe.

“We suffered death and destruction due to Super Typhoon Yolanda, followed by poverty and displacement due to the failed rehabilitation efforts on the part of the government. Now it seems that justice is still far away for the people devastated by Yolanda, as the primary culprits of this deadly climate are walking out from their responsibility,” said Pascualito Ilagan of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice and a Yolanda survivor.

“The US exit is unacceptable as they are not finished delivering reparations for us and many others who have suffered from climate change,” he added.

Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on climate change, also expressed regret over Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, saying it is a “grave mistake.”

“By this withdrawal, the US has turned its back on the future. It puts a spotlight on a belligerent leadership that refuses to heed the voices of people, including his own, who are gravely threatened by the perils of climate change and global warming,” she said. It is “ironic there are people, leaders like Mr. Trump, who are disconnected with nature, disconnected with the reality that climate change not only endangers the future but is actually a threat to our survival now,” she added. – With Paolo Romero, Christina Mendez