Majority of Filipinos are aware of climate change as shown by findings from both the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia. Although Pulse Asia revealed that majority of Filipinos admitted a lack or insufficient knowledge about climate change, the SWS 2022 survey found that majority are optimistic about solutions that people can do to reduce climate risks.
The World Risk Report 2023 ranked the Philippines as the most disaster-prone country in the world for the 13th straight year. Based on the 2021 Global Climate Risk Report, the Philippines ranked 17th in terms of level of exposure and vulnerability to extreme events. Given the increase in the heat indices within the country during the last few months, the climate crisis has likely become a more disturbing reality for many Filipinos.
Amid these glaring realities, it is indeed timely and relevant that President Marcos mentioned climate change in all his three State of the Nation Addresses (Sonas). Mr. Marcos mentioned that the country has climate adaptation and mitigation solutions, but did not elaborate. He proudly stated that the Philippines is included in the Board of the Loss and Damage Fund and was chosen as its host country (this fund was operationalized at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties or COP held in December 2023). A few measures related to disaster risk reduction and mitigation were also cited.
Compared to his two previous Sonas, this year’s speech had a toned-down discussion about the environment and natural resources, as well as climate change in terms of the length of time and the emphasis on concrete solutions. Various environmental groups and other civil society organizations (CSOs) have voiced their dismay over this. For instance, Greenpeace pointed to the absence of a climate justice agenda including plans for stopping fossil gas expansion. The Center for Environmental Concerns and Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment assessed the Sona as the Marcos administration’s further attempt to engage in greenwashing, stating that its economic agenda and climate-related goals are pushing for reclamation, mining, mega-dams, and other infrastructure projects which threaten the environment and violate the rights of the affected communities.
The Sona was also silent on a few controversial developments that pro-environment groups strongly oppose such as the Joint Declaration of Policy Reforms between the Philippine Mining Industry and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources signed last month and the 123 Agreement, a nuclear cooperation between the Philippines and the United States signed in November 2023.
Unfortunately, the present administration has worsened the dominance of the flawed neo-liberal development paradigm which prioritizes corporate profit and interests of transnational corporations at the expense of the environment and marginalized sectors. False solutions influenced by this economic paradigm include attempts to promote “responsible mining” and even coming up with wrong arguments like the need for mineral resources to fuel green technologies.
If Mr. Marcos wants to be remembered as a president who champions effective solutions to climate change and poverty in his envisioned “new Philippines,” his administration has to veer away from this flawed development framework. The Marcos administration needs a sharpened analysis of the relationship between poverty and the environment (see Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines statements).
We reiterate the CSOs’ Urgent Call for a Pro-Filipino Climate and Environment Agenda (signed by 136 CSOs in 2022) about the need for our leaders to “take a stand and create opportunities to initiate a paradigm shift toward a model of sustainable development that is ecologically sound, equitable, socially just, and politically inclusive. We all must listen to the cries of the earth and the poor, respond and act together in responding to the climate crisis, and adapt to its extreme impacts and potential catastrophes.” After the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Carina,” which placed Metro Manila in a state of calamity, the Philippine government should consider declaring a “climate emergency.”
Patria Gwen M.L. Borcena, is executive director of Greenresearch Environmental Research Group Inc. She was one of the few civil society representatives who helped craft the environment and natural resources chapter in the Philippine Development Plan under the Aquino and Duterte administrations.