Although it only accounts for about 0.3% of global emissions, the Philippines is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and disasters due to its geographic location.
In line with this, we talked to our counterparts in The Climate Reality Project in the US to lay out what’s at stake for the country in the ongoing #COP26 in Glasgow.
As a developing country that contributes only half a percent of global annual emissions but will be badly hit by climate impacts, how important is it for the Philippines to reduce its emissions and by how much? What reduction targets has the government set, and how does this align with the science? How do our current and projected emissions compare to these targets? And what will it take to get us on track?
From July to August 2021, the Youth Cluster of the Climate Reality Project Philippines, in partnership with East-West Center and Wavefarers, spearheaded and implemented “Project Niche: Claiming My Place in the Climate Space” with the goal of capacitating and inspiring budding climate advocates to become key players in local climate change action in their respective communities. It was opened to all budding young climate advocates who are currently taking their high school or college studies.
It began this way: Inside the comfort of your living room, you’re watching the television. You face the news with trepidation as you found out that fifty years from now, the planet you’re living in will not be the same as exactly it is today. Expect a world of melting ice caps, rising global temperatures, mass extinctions of species and coral reefs, starvation, and water scarcity.
Grassroots movements have sprouted all over the world in an attempt to push for their respective advocacies. Many would say that this is the power of collective action. What we call the “bottom-up” approach consists of these tiny sparks of change at a local level that brings about ripples that eventually drive the decision-makers to flow with the waves. With grassroots actions, the people are empowered to actively advocate for change in government policies or projects.
The doers and sufferers have been familiar with the term “Climate Crisis” in recent years. But what is it really? It’s the maturity of humanity’s little baby called “climate change.” It’s so normalized that it’s commercialized by the corporate world, which is also the same world that contributes a huge chunk to this crisis. It’s so normalized that we don’t treat it as what it is – an emergency.
