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By Heherson T. Alvarez
THE Philippines is vulnerable to
the quadruple-whammy effects of global warming.
These are rising sea levels,
floods spawned by killer typhoons, dwindling water supplies induced
by droughts and shriveling food supplies from parched farmlands.
The melting of the Greenland ice
caps could cause sea level to rise up to 7 meters, equivalent to the
height of three adult Filipinos. Small islands like Guimaras would
get submerged, and low level areas like Malabon, Navotas and Manila
will experience even more floods.
Half of the country’s 1,500
towns ring our coastline with half of the population depending on
seafood as a primary source of protein. A 1-meter increase in sea
levels could put 64 of the country’s 81 provinces, or 80 percent,
in harm’s way.
A 1-meter rise in sea levels
could affect 700 million square meters of Philippine coastal lands.
Already, 79.7 million square
meters are at risk in the most vulnerable island province of Sulu.
In Palawan, 64.2 million square meters are vulnerable.
The other most vulnerable
provinces are Zamboanga, Samar, Basilan, Cebu, Davao, Bohol, the two
Camarines provinces, Que-zon, Tawi-tawi, Masbate, Negros Occidental,
Capiz, Catanduanes and Maguindanao.
The Philippines is already the
world’s fourth most disaster-prone country, according to the
Citizens’ Disaster Response Center. Last year alone, three million
Filipinos—or 3.5 percent of the population—were affected by
disasters.
The numbers will rise with global
warming.
War footing
The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) reported last year that governments must now
forge voluntary agreements with industries and stakeholders to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent to 85 percent by
2050—or suffer a tipping point of irreversible climate change.
The IPCC warned the world is
moving closer to the tipping point of 400 parts per million (ppm) in
emissions with its current level of 372 ppm. If we reach 400 ppm by
2050, we would have reached the point of no return.
Because of these serious threats
to national survival, every citizen must be in a “war footing”
to prevent climate change. The times call for total mobilization in
order to abort the tipping points warned by scientists.
The power and transport sectors
will make the biggest contributions to reducing greenhouse gas
emissions since they are the heaviest users of fossil fuels.
Likewise, every citizen should work towards reducing his or her
“carbon footprint,” or the indicator of how much each person
pollutes the earth.
President Gloria Arroyo has
created the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and
Climate Change, which I now head, to form a national consensus for a
Philippine carbon-cutting commitment.
In time for the next global
conference on climate change—the 14th Session of the Conference of
Parties on Climate Change this week in Poznan, Poland—the
Philippines will put forward its position on how the country can
lessen its emissions of greenhouse gases.
The country has a lot of
potential in reducing its emissions by tapping rich sources of clean
energy such as wind, solar and hydro power. The Philippines has a
potential, for example, of producing 72,000 megawatts from wind
power that can be tapped to replace its coal- and oil-fired power
plants.
“A Green Philippines includes
reducing reliance on fossil fuels with our wind, solar, biofuel and
geothermal energy programs,” says President Arroyo. “It is good
for our economy and good for our health and well-being to have a
strong economy and clean environment.”
We only have 42 years left so we
must wage war against climate change today.
Together, united, caring for the
future of our children, we are confident we can overcome and win the
battle.
(Heherson Alvarez is the
Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change. A former
senator, he was Environment Secretary and founding chairman of the
EarthSavers Movement.)
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