Groups: Philippine government has not learned from “Yolanda”

CEBU, Philippines — Environmental groups are still alarmed over the Philippine government’s policies on climate and energy, five years after a super typhoon hit the country.

Gerry Arances, executive director of Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), said the Filipino civil society organizations, specifically advocates for climate justice and energy transformation five years after the destruction of Yolanda.

Arances cited the DOE's coal-dependent policy as a "symbol that the Philippines has learned nothing from Yolanda."

"As another Typhoon Haiyan lurks around the corner, here we are increasing the vulnerabilities of Filipinos by greenlighting more coal projects in vulnerable coastal areas, and cursing poor, vulnerable communities to decades more of energy poverty," said Arances.

In its preliminary studies on Philippine coasts and the climate, CEED found that coastal communities are among the most vulnerable when it comes to climate change, and yet their vulnerabilities are increased by environmental degradation, health costs, and destruction of livelihood posed by energy and extractive projects.

"Our inconsistent climate and energy policy is costing us not only the lives of our people, but our hope for a more accessible, sustainable energy system which can alleviate poverty and respond to the needs of vulnerable Filipinos," Arances said, in a statement.

Arances cited that even with the Clean Energy Scenario, the Philippine Energy Plan still projects fossil fuels to still be the primary energy source by 2040 at 78.81 percent and renewable energy at 21.19 percent, despite the country’s nationally-determined contribution to the Paris Agreement pledging a 70 percent reduction in GHG emissions below BAU projections by 2030.

"As we are among the most vulnerable countries to climate change, the wake-up call that was Yolanda should have been cause for us to lead not just in the discussion of disaster resilience, but also in shifting away from dirty, costly energy from fossil fuel like coal," added Arances.

Lawyer Aaron Pedrosa, Executive Director of Bulig Pilipinas, National Relief, Rehabilitation, and Adaptation Solidarity Network, said coastal communities which are already exposed to climate-related disasters and sensitive to the slow-onset impacts of climate change are threatened by these coal projects.

“This is because their adaptive capacity is being lessened through the loss of income, displacement from their sources of livelihood, and health hazards,” he added.

Pedrosa urged the national government to consider the area’s vulnerability to climate-related disasters in green-lighting energy and climate projects in granting certificates of environmental compliance to companies.

"Unfortunately, the bare minimum compliance is already in danger of not being met, with 189 coal extraction and energy projects applying for the Energy Project of National Significance (EPNS) certificate under President Duterte’s Executive Order 30,” he warned.

Pedrosa said that Executive Order 30 enables the DOE-led Energy Investment Coordinating Council (EICC) to drastically hasten the approval process for particular big energy projects.

Meanwhile, Senator Loren Legarda has renewed her call for communities to heighten resilience to disasters, as the nation yesterday commemorated the fifth anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

"Long before Yolanda and more so after, I have knocked on the doors of local government units urging them to implement our environmental laws to build resilience and reduce disaster risks. Disaster preparedness is one of the seven core areas of governance in building sustainably progressive and inclusive communities," said Legarda, in a statement.

Legarda said that there have been improvements through the years, particularly in the issuance of weather advisories and early warnings and enforcement of early evacuation, but more needs to be done.

"We need to continuously conduct massive education and information campaign on disaster preparedness so that communities do not remain complacent," Legarda said.

She said that there is a need to ensure that in rebuilding communities, we are not rebuilding the risks again.

Legarda said that we must reduce the risks and not create new risks.

She said that if a community is prone to landslides, it must consult the geohazard map to see where relocation is possible otherwise we will continue to incur damages and rebuild again when natural hazards occur.

In coastal communities, she said, there should be a mangrove reforestation because mangroves sequester carbon and are good buffers for storm surge and tsunami.

"Yolanda was a tragic example of stronger natural hazards caused by climate change. We should expect more of it, but more important is to be prepared for these extreme weather events. We will only be resilient if we learn the lessons of past disasters and translate these lessons into action," Legarda said. — GAN (FREEMAN)