Philippines, UAE to pursue green energy projects

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will work with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in pursuing green energy efforts in line with the government’s renewed policy to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the country looks forward to UAE’s plans in reversing the damages of climate change given its power to influence global policymakers as host of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP).

“We welcome the UAE’s plan of deploying and using clean energy solutions as one of the main pillars of its model of addressing the challenge of climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Dominguez said.

The Philippines, according to Dominguez, has embarked on a mission to cut its dependence on coal power.

In 2020 President Duterte issued a moratorium against new proposals to put up coal-based plants anywhere in the archipelago.

Also, the country has signed up for the Asian Development Bank’s energy transition mechanism where coal plants will be retired and alternative options will be explored.

Through the program, the Philippines and Indonesia should decommission more than half of its coal facilities within the next 10 to 15 years.

As such, Dominguez said the government looks to the UAE, as host of COP 28, for initiatives to speed up the global transition to sustainable energy.

“We look forward to working with the United Arab Emirates in conceptualizing and implementing innovative programs to increase energy efficiency,” Dominguez said.

COP, the largest international conference on climate change participated in by heads of states, will be hosted by oil-producing nations Qatar this year and UAE in 2023.

The Philippines suffered a total of P506.1 billion in economic damages between 2010 and 2020 due to weather extremities, based on records. During the period, the country lost an average of P48.9 billion, or around 0.33 percent of economic output, yearly to natural and man-made risks caused by climate change.

In the worst years, the Philippines forfeited up to 0.5 percent of its economy to natural disasters that ruined crops, infrastructure and properties. In spite of this, the country contributes just about 0.3 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions.

In a first of many measures, the government committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent until 2030 by, among others, chopping the share of coal to the national energy mix.

“Reversing the trend toward global warming will require the work of generations. It will be a hard and interminable work. We have to put in that work to save our planet,” Dominguez said.