Citizens urged to wage war vs climate change
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/28/2008 2:27 AM
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Every Filipino citizen should be on a “war footing” and Philippine society “totally mobilized” as the world moves closer to irreversible climate change, a presidential adviser warned.
In an interview over dzMM Sunday, Heherson T. Alvarez, presidential adviser on global warming and climate change, told his former colleague in the Senate, Jose Lina, that there are only 42 years left before the world reaches the point where it may no longer be able to mitigate destructive climate change.
He cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment in 2007 which stressed the need for a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations by 2050 in order to abort the tipping point of irreversible climate change.
He said the current commitment of developed countries (or Annex 1 countries) in the first period of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and its Kyoto Protocol is only a 5% GHG reduction by 2012, which is now an obsolete target in view of more destructive climate change episodes.
“If we don’t cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050, which is only 42 years away, we will reach the tipping point,” he said.
If this point is reached, he warned that the world will see even more destructive typhoons, deadlier floods, and desertification. Small islands will disappear as giant ice sheets 40% the size of China melt and cause sea levels to rise.
Alvarez said the world is already witnessing more destructive tropical cyclones, with much stronger winds, like what Cuba experienced with Hurricane Gustav last month.
RP’s vulnerabilities
He said the Philippines is particularly vulnerable to climate change since it gets an average of 20 storms a year.
The melting of 3-mile thick ice sheets in Greenland could cause sea level to rise by 6 to 7 meters, equivalent to the height of three adult Filipinos, Alvarez said.
He said small islands like Guimaras would get submerged, and low-level areas like the cities of Malabon, Navotas, and Manila will experience even worse flooding.
President Arroyo, Alvarez said, is very much concerned about the impact of global warming and climate change on the country’s food production.
Global warming leads to dry agricultural lands and desertification, and these force more people to abandon farms and migrate to cities or other countries.
Alvarez said Filipino farmers are already affected by climate change since typhoons are more ferocious and irregular. Rains and floods come even before farmers harvest their crops.
Total mobilization
Due to these serious threats to national survival, Alvarez stressed the need for every citizen to be in a “war footing” against climate change.
He said the times call for “total mobilization” of all sectors in order to abort the tipping points warned by scientists.
Every citizen should work toward reducing his or her carbon footprint or the indicator of how much each person pollutes the earth.
Alvarez said he Philippines has to come up with a national consensus on a how to reduce its GHG concentrations in preparation for the next global conference on climate change that will be held in Poland in December.
CCC vs CC
Alvarez said his office will be sponsoring a Carbon Cutting Congress versus Climate Change (CCC vs CC) on November 20 to prepare for the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties on Climate Change scheduled to be held on December 1 to 12 in Poznan, Poland.
Alvarez said the carbon cutting conference hopes to form a national consensus among stakeholders from the national and local government, business and industry, academic and science community, civil society on how to become a carbon-neutral country.
The position that will be formulated from the carbon cutting congress will help the Philippine delegation when it engages other nations in the conference in Poznan, Poland.
Alternatives
He said the Philippines has a lot of potential in being able to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by tapping its rich sources of clean energy such as wind, solar, and hydro-electric power.
The Philippines, being a tropical country, can also expand its biofuels production such as planting coconuts, the source of methyl ester, an alternative to crude oil.
Alvarez said the Philippines has a potential of 72,000 megawatts of wind power which can be tapped to replace its coal and oil-fired power plants.
Consumers and commuters can also help attain a carbon-neutral nation by cutting their use of motor vehicles and airconditioners, and by stopping the burning of solid wastes.
They should also support the global campaign to replace the old bulbs with compact fluorescent lights, which cuts power use by 90% while getting the same amount of light.
Adaptation
Reforestation projects will also allow the Philippines to get carbon credits, which would give the Philippines access to funds for climate adaptation projects in typhoon-prone regions such as Bicol.
A better early-warning system must also be put in place for cities and towns that are prone to floods, storms and other climate change phenomena. Public schools should be strong enough to withstand typhoons.
Alvarez, a former environment secretary, said forest degradation has reduced the capacity of forests to absorb greenhouse gas emissions and to help prevent floods. Each tree, he said, acts like a big well that can absorb 2 to 5 hours of rainfall.
“We only have 42 years left so we must wage war against climate change,” he said.
