Climate justice

Sustainable development seems to be struggling uphill globally at the end of 2024. A week ago, the United Nations (UN) Environment Program (UNEP)’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee failed to arrive at a final text for an international treaty on plastic pollution. COP29 (of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) is still panned for its perceived failure in making meaningful advancements in climate justice. Of the $1.3 billion needed by 2030, developed countries committed to only $300 million by 2035. Not only is it just 23.08 percent of the scientific consensus-reached and evidence-based target, but it is also pushed back five years further. Another issue is whether committed funds are merely mostly loans, rather than grants or others less onerous, to already debt-ridden climate vulnerable countries.

There is still hope. Incremental, slow and unequal progress, even in the form of frustrating compromises, is still a win. In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, it is “a base on which to build” and, insofar as climate financing, what’s quite critical is “commitments must quickly become cash.” It highlights the fact that it is vital now, more than ever, for citizens all over the world to demand accountability from governments, private corporations and from each other. It is also crucial for citizens to inspire one another and collaborate in our efforts to forge a better, more equitable and more sustainable world.

It’s part of the reason why I wrote my book, “A Sustainable Future.” I believe firmly in arming the next generation with the latest science and the world’s best practices in resource management, renewable energy and disaster resilience. In doing so, there’s greater certainty in propelling the Philippines to a prosperous present and an even more prosperous future. Since my initial book launch two years ago, I’ve had the great honor of exchanging experiences and expertise on sustainability with so many talented, intelligent and compassionate Filipinos. It’s also taken me all over the world discussing sustainable solutions to fresh water management, agribusiness, green building codes or imbibing disaster resilience in school curricula. In conversation and consultation with different sectors, whether in disaster ground zeroes, far-flung farmlands or in Ivy League university halls, I’ve realized that every person and perspective counts. Although it takes time and effort, bringing people together and bridging sectors still work wonders.

An excellent example is now one of the ongoing landmark cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The UN General Assembly, “[r]ecognizing that climate change is an unprecedented challenge of civilizational proportions,” asked the ICJ to render an advisory opinion on the legal obligations of states (or countries) in the climate crisis, and its legal consequences. While it would not be legally binding in itself, the advisory opinion can be a guiding light for legislatures around the world, an authoritative reference for climate advocates and climate vulnerable countries like the Philippines, and another “base on which to build” towards climate justice. Such legal action, more significantly, started only as an initiative of 27 law students at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji in 2019. The youth-led organization, Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change, and the Vanuatu government’s initiatives have now transformed into the largest case in the 77-year history of ICJ. It demonstrates the importance of the involvedness of the multiple sectors, particularly the youth who have an enormous role to play, and stake in safeguarding the environment not only for the present but for future generations.

As Dean Tony La Viña eloquently explained in my book, while “the planet and the Philippines are on fire and underwater … we are not helpless.” In “A Sustainable Future,” I shared our ideas of a Department of Water and a Department of Disaster Resilience (Senator Grace Poe’s Senate Bill Nos. 102 and 103, both filed last July 7, 2022). I am glad that there is a renewed interest in it. We commend the recent passage of the Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act (Republic Act 12076) that requires a network of permanent, strategic and resilient evacuation centers in every city and municipality of the Philippines. We also welcome the signing of the Student Loan Payment Moratorium During Disasters and Emergencies Act (RA 12077), which is a needed respite for our youth who are the future of our nation. These were once abstract ideas, with different versions, from those proposed in my book to bills of Senate President Chiz Escudero and Senators Estrada, Gatchalian, Lapid, Poe, Tulfo and Villar, but they’ve now turned into real interventions that can help Filipinos live better lives. We must remember that a green society is a grassroots society.

On the international stage, we should laud Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra for leading the Philippines’ advocacy for the international community to devise an environmental legal remedy similar to our own country’s writ of kalikasan. During the said ICJ hearings, he proposed the Philippines’ existing unique legal innovation in protecting the environment against illegal mining operations or unsustainable infrastructure projects. Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN Carlos Sorreta was on point when he argued that “[c]limate change-induced sea level rise poses a severe threat to the territorial integrity of low-lying and island nations, analogous to the loss of territory by invasion to the use of force[.]” There is so much to lose to inaction, so we have to act now to the best of our abilities. In taking action we recently celebrated the first Manila-based meeting of the UNFCCC’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) Board.

Altogether, we still have a lot of positive momentum in the sustainability movement. I know one day the Philippines will be an undisputed world leader and pioneer in climate justice.