Makati to mark Earth Day at Ayala Triangle Gardens

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City government will mark Earth Day 2014 at the Ayala Center Garden on March 29, starting at 6 p.m.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said around 1,000 are expected to attend the event, including representatives from the city’s 33 barangays, commercial establishments and environmental groups.  Participants will be treated to performances from this year’s overall Caracol champion, Bangkal High School students, among other forms of entertainment, he said.

“We are proud to join the rest of the world in showing our support for the global movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help cool down the earth,” Binay said.

Binay called on city residents and business establishments to make it a daily habit to conserve energy by switching off lights and other electrical equipment when not in use.

“The extreme weather events we recently experienced should be enough to jolt us out of complacency and compel us to make a conscious effort to drastically bring down the level of GHG emissions we release into the atmosphere,” he said.    

Binay also thanked Ayala Land Inc., Jollibee Foods Corp., and Ayala Property Management Corporation, together with the Liga ng mga Barangay of Makati for being the city’s partners in the undertaking.

Binay said the city government has been making headway in its bid to lessen Makati’s carbon footprint, with its GHG Management Framework Plan now undergoing its final revision. 

In 2013, the Makati GHG Inventory Team composed of key city agencies obtained third party validation of its GHG inventories conducted in 2011 for ‘Entity Level GHG Emissions: Fuel and Electricity’, and in 2012 for ‘Entity Level GHG Emissions: Stationary Energy, Solid and Waste Water, Transportation and Electricity.’

In its Verification Opinion of the inventories, the Center for Climate Strategies said that it was “able to conclude with a remarkable level of assurance that the city’s GHG emission inventory report is free of material misstatement, comprehensive in its coverage of sources and GHGs, and provides a useful starting point for mitigation assessment.”

Earth Hour 2014 event has been organized by the city government through the Department of Environmental Services with the support of Makati Cooperative Development Office and
private sector partners.

Makati has been an advocate of the Earth Hour campaign since 2008 and has participated in the ceremonial countdown and actual 60-minute switching off of non-essential lights in the Central Business District, done simultaneously in households throughout the city.

Greenhouse gases are defined as “any of the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation produced by solar warming of the Earth's surface.”

These include carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which at elevated levels have been found to contribute to global warming. - Mike Frialde