A visionary whose time has come

There are many who have leadership qualities. But men of vision are a rarity.

Everyone is talking about climate change today because of the onslaught of super typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. But the issue of climate change brings to mind the words uttered by Mr. John C. Topping, president of the Washington-based Climate Institute, when he spoke at the Carbon Cutting Congress vs Climate Change in Malacanang in December last year.

“Heherson Alvarez is not the Al Gore of the Philippines. Al Gore is the Alvarez of the world,” Topping said. He was referring to former Senator and Environment Secretary Heherson “Sonny” Alvarez, who is President Arroyo’s Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change.

Alvarez may be considered “a prophetic man of vision” because as early as 1987 he was a lone voice in the wilderness in our country. Nobody was talking about climate change then. So before the Aquino Cabinet in 1991, and also in Batasan with members of Congress, Alvarez brought the scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with Climate Institute to explain the issue of climate change in the seat of government.

In 1995, he organized in Manila with the United Nations Environmental program (UNEP) the first Asia Pacific Leaders Conference on Climate Change (ASPAC-LCCC) keynoted by then Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and Vanuatu Prime Minister Maxime Carlot-Korman together with President Fidel V. Ramos.

That conference resulted in a Manila Declaration where it adopted the findings of the IPCC that small, archipelagic island nations like the Philippines are most vulnerable to climate change. It was presented in Berlin at the first conference of the parties.

To address climate change at that early stage, he sought to clean the air by successfully negotiating with the big three oil companies in the country - Shell, Caltex and Petron - to sign the “Healthy Air Pact” that removed destructive air pollutants in the atmosphere, such as lead in gasoline and sulfur in diesel.

A string of environmental laws that he authored in the Senate and pursued in the House followed: Clean Air Act, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, National Integrated Protected Areas Systems Act, among others.

Just last week, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act No. 9729 otherwise known as the “Climate Change Act of 2009” principally sponsored by Senator Loren Legarda and Rep. Roilo Golez, two of our more sensitive and sensible lawmakers.

In the wake of the super typhoons, we commend President Arroyo for signing this law, which is both compelling and urgent, and for putting the issue of climate change on top of her domestic agenda. She has entrusted Alvarez to lead the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change (OPACC) since October last year. The function of OPACC is almost the same as the Commission. This column is glad, Alvarez with the expertise, experience and ethical conduct for good governance has committed his public service to advocacy and action on climate change. Even in exile Alvarez has shown his commitment to our country’s freedom heritage fighting side by side with Ninoy Aquino and Raul Manglapus overseas against the dictatorship. The late Human Rights champion, US Senator Edward Kennedy cited Alvarez “tireless dedication to democracy made a real difference”.

This new law will establish a framework strategy for climate change - a national action plan for the inclusion of climate change in the development of plans and programs from the national government down to the local munisipyo. It will also create a new agency, the Climate Change Commission that will set national policy and direction to this global cause.

Even Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, lauded the President when he came to Manila and met her last September. De Boer publicly declared his admiration for President Macapagal-Arroyo for being “very knowledgeable on climate change.”

Already, Alvarez joins President Arroyo in visiting the countryside every Friday, which the President calls as her “Climate Change Day.” They inspect waste management in the localities to ensure that garbage is disposed properly and not left to rot in streets and dumpsites, and produce methane, a lethal greenhouse gas.

A daunting task is left for the new Climate Change Commission: to push for cuts in carbon emission globally; to convince Filipinos to cut their carbon emissions; and to prepare our communities to adapt to climate change and reduce its devastating impact on society. A presidential proclamation has been issued for Climate Change Consciousness Week, November 19-25 to further heighten advocacy and action currently undertaken by the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change.

In the international arena, since December last year at the Conference of Parties (COP-14) in Poznan, Poland, and the succeeding climate change negotiations, Alvarez has been leading the Philippine delegation in crafting a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that will expire in 2012.

This new treaty, under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will be voted upon by world leaders in COP-15 in Copenhagen this December.

It is indeed a daunting task to save mankind from climate change disasters and we need visionary leaders like Alvarez, a patriot-environmentalist. It is not unthinkable that a man who is not afraid to impeach a popular actor-president is now confronting the bigger challenge to humanity. Perhaps, the Philippines through Alvarez could be a catalyst building the world’s contemporary “Noah’s Ark” for this crucial survival issue. It is a fulfillment of his long held vision for the environment.