‘Global leaders should be fearless in climate fight’

MANILA, Philippines — An environmentalist member of the House of Representatives has called on global leaders to be fearless in addressing threats of climate change to ensure the desire of nations to achieve climate justice as espoused by the Paris accord. 

“When it comes to climate change actions, we need to be fearlessly optimistic, fearlessly ambitious. We need to be fearless,” Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato recently told attendees to the 200th Liberal International ExCom in Berlin, Germany.  

The senior lawmaker assured the foreign guests that while Philippines is “not a major polluter” in the world, Manila is still “strongly committed to reducing its carbon emission” and is “fearlessly facing the challenges.”  

Sato lamented the wide policy-action gap, as the Philippines continues to experience not only disasters triggered by natural calamities, but also those that can be considered a consequence of greed-driven, environmentally destructive development projects. 

“While many are natural disasters, how can we explain the disasters borne by abuse and blatant disregard for environmental laws?” she asked.  

The event’s expected output is the adoption of the Berlin Declaration of Climate Justice. 

The Philippines is finalizing and mainstreaming the country’s obligations under the agreement into national policies, plans and programs, including a conditional commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 70 percent between 2020 and 2030.

Recognizing the serious threats posed by climate change, the Philippines – which averages 20 typhoons a year – ratified in March 2017 the Paris Agreement. 

In a prepared message for the event dubbed “Lives in the balance: Making environmental policies work for the people,” Sato said achieving climate justice is  difficult but not impossible. 

She said mobilizing public and private stakeholders, domestically and internationally to delivering on the climate justice promise of the Paris Agreement is a big challenge, especially for poorer nations. 

Sato said countries vulnerable to climate change are compelled to find a way, look for means and make decisive action. 

“Just five years ago, Super Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) cost over $2 billion in damage and, more gravely, took 6,300 Filipino lives,” she said. 

The Philippines has more than 100 environment-related legislation and is a signatory to numerous treaties, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 

She however said the Philippines is faced with a serious challenge of closing the policy-financing and policy-action gaps. 

To effectively implement the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), a multi-stakeholder action plan for biodiversity conservation, Sato stressed the budget allocation needs to be at P24 billion ($458 million) per year.   

Current estimated spending is at P5 billion ($95 million) per year only, leaving a financing gap of about 80 percent. 

“We all know that for environmental legislation to even make a dent and positively impact the people’s lives, budget appropriation and allocation must be institutionalized, predictable and stable,” she said.