In one’s own interest

The Philippines is in a particularly rocky place in the climate challenge. With a less than 1% of the global carbon footprint, the country is a very small contributor to global warming. Yet it ranks  around the top in measures of vulnerability to weather-related hazards and has a big stake in slowing climate change.

Given this, the Aquino administration has flagged its intention to tackle the impact of climate change on the Philippines using what resources it has to lessen disaster impacts, promote renewable energy, and fight illegal logging and expand forestation — and to not wait for other countries to act. Such unilateral steps with or without multilateral agreements have precedence in global trade, with developing countries in recent decades cutting back on their trade restrictions unilaterally as multilateral negotiations stalled.

This year, we hope, will finally see a global agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 after grueling rounds of climate change talks. Even so, countries still need to adopt or press on with independent and tailored climate action for their national well-being. Climate change is humanity’s greatest development challenge. Though scientists are careful not to attribute particular events — such as typhoons Ruby or Yolanda — to global warming, the links between climate change and climate-related disasters are unmistakable.

The urgency to act is spurred by the realization that climate action today is far less costly than tomorrow. The economic damage from recent weather-related events has already been eye-watering. The floods that submerged Thailand’s industrial heartland and other parts of the country in 2011, which stopped production in computer and car factories, caused economic losses estimated at $46 billion. The damage from Hurricane Sandy in the US was slated at $68 billion.

True, the economic cost of the mega storms that have hit the Philippines since typhoon Ondoy in 2009, including typhoon Yolanda, were much lower, but they had a far higher human cost. With rising concerns over the typhoon season in Southeast Asia and the Atlantic hurricane season in North America, the payoffs of stepping up climate action will be tangible.

Managing disaster risks and adapting to climate change are key to containing climate costs. For disaster management, a pressing need is to ensure functioning lifelines, notably potable water and first aid, during calamities. Rebuilding better in anticipation of future disasters is a major advocacy of the development community, and an issue keeping Yolanda-devastated communities in the international eye. To its credit, the Philippines emerged from another bruising rainy season with heightened disaster awareness and improved evacuation and preparedness measures, put to good use during typhoon Ruby.  

For economies everywhere, reducing carbon footprints will be critical for reducing climate costs. Improving energy efficiency and phasing out inefficient and costly fuel subsidies — prevalent in many Asian countries — are highly effective steps. And the falling cost of renewable energy such as solar and wind power should make it easier for governments to put in place polices to encourage investment in renewables.

Big economies clearly have a bigger role to play in climate mitigation. The Obama administration’s move to cut carbon emissions from power plants to 30% below the 2005 level by 2030 promises health gains at home and the potential to encourage the international community to adopt similarly bold environmental rules to fight climate change.

The cost of addressing climate risks, especially in the Philippines, is sizable. It would pay for the Philippines to be prepared to raise climate financing both internally and from external sources such as the Green Climate Fund.

Ongoing global negotiations on climate targets and commitments present a tremendous opportunity. After the dispiriting lack of progress in many past rounds, these have shown signs of life lately, with the United States and China committing, even if not yet in a binding way, to meaningful targets to reduce carbon emissions. An agreement is scheduled to be adopted later this year at a conference in Paris and implemented from 2020. At the very least, this presents a fresh opening and a chance to begin a shift to a low-carbon path for economic growth.

Complementing what is achieved in global negotiations, it is vital that countries do not necessarily wait for global solutions to climate change, but start working on local ones. But this will happen only if we realize — as Philippines has signaled — that the risks from climate disasters are local too, and that climate action is essential to containing these risks and for sustaining economic growth.

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Vinod Thomas is director general of Independent Evaluation at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank.