Climate action plan still lacks backbone

This is in reaction to the news item on the recently approved National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP), for which President Aquino was named the “greenest” of all Philippine presidents.

It is a farcical to honor the President with such a title for the NCCAP remains merely a cosmetic, considering that the policy issues cited in Republic Act 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009 remain unresolved.

For instance, the NCCAP still works on a “business-as-usual,” neo-liberal framework that has put in place market-based mechanisms which aggravate the destruction and depletion of our natural resources. It is also silent on the accountability of the historically top GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) contributors, such as the United States, which is the biggest stumbling block to a binding global agreement on GHG reduction. Mr. Aquino’s NCCAP also calls for climate financing, but it refuses to demand unconditional payment by the United States for its GHG contributions, given the fact that US logging and mining companies have been historically responsible for the massive destruction of our forests.

We would also like to point out that there are anti-people, anti-environment policies such as the Mining Act of 1995, the Fisheries Code of 1998 and the Forestry Code of 1975 that run diametrically opposed to NCCAP’s priorities of environmental stability and human security. When you factor in the recent drift of Mr. Aquino’s environmental policy, which includes the exclusion of mining corporations from Executive Order 23’s total log ban, you’d realize that in addressing our nation’s vulnerability to climate change, we are in fact regressing.

Recall the almost P15 billion worth of damage to agriculture and infrastructure in the recent Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel” vis-à-vis claims that the Philippines is well-poised for climate adaptation. Let it be pointed out that the factors that led to the disasters—privatization of dams, physical vulnerabilities, high poverty index, etc.—can be traced back to the government’s continued prioritization of corporate interest over public interest. Let’s first resolve this lack of policy backbone and subservience to corporate interest before we let ourselves get mesmerized by Mr. Aquino’s climate rhetoric.

—CLEMENTE BAUTISTA,

national coordinator,

Kalikasan People’s Network

for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE),

26 Matulungin St., Barangay Central,

Diliman, Quezon City