Make govt accountable for climate change, commissioner tells youth

The youth can actively play a role to make officials in local government units more accountable in terms of providing adaptation measures for vulnerable towns to respond to climate change, and prevent another Yolanda from devastating the country.

 

The Philippines has an increasingly young population, with four in ten members of the household—about 41.8 percent of the 92.1 population—attending school between the age of 5 to 24 years old, according to 2010 census data.

 

With the youth comprising the majority of the population today, who in a few years time, will join the labor force and help drive the economy, it is crucial to educate them early on climate change and its impact on Philippine development in the long run.

 

Keen awareness of climate change 

 

The leaders coming from the present youth generation will also have to be more keenly aware of the negative effects of climate change.

 

The country incurred a loss of $4.38 billion from typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng in 2009 alone, according to a 2013 World Bank report.

 

“What you know—in terms of science and legal policies—can help you, especially in surviving in the era of climate change and stronger natural disasters,” says Climate Change Commission (CCC) Secretary and Vice Chair Lucille Sering told this to the youth present during the opening of the National Climate Change Consciousness Week's celebration of Greeneration.

 

Most urban areas in the Philippines are at risk from natural disasters, Sering adds, with most of the vulnerable groups including the children.

 

In the United Nations Humanitarian Situation Report on November 20 regarding the impact of Haiyan, the United Nations Children's Fund placed the number of affected children at 5.54 million out of the total 13.2 million affected people.

 

Make government accountable

 

“How do we address this? Let us be informed of the issues and help make the government more accountable,” notes Sering, who came from the recently concluded United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - Conference of the Parties (COP 19) in Warsaw, Poland.

 

The devastation brought in Visayas by typhoon Haiyan, locally called Yolanda, is a wake up call not only for the Philippines but to the world in terms of the impact of climate change-related disasters to developing countries such as the Philippines.

 

Central Visayas was destroyed with the winds and storm surge caused by Haiyan, with the death toll feared to hit at least 7,000.

 

Current structures in the country cannot withstand typhoons such as Yolanda hence the Climate Change Commission, as the lead government agency, has formed a consolidated plan to address climate change issues faced by the country, adds Sering.

 

Despite its low carbon emission as compared to other developing Asian countries such as China and India, the Philippines is right in the middle of the world's typhoon belt and the Pacific Rim of Fire, making it prone to natural disasters.

 

“The Philippines is the country across the globe most exposed to typhoons. One of the projected impacts that will threaten the country is sea level rise, especially in coastal communities, if it happens at the rate predicted by global studies,” Dr. Lourdes Tibig, Supervising Weather Specialist at DOST PAGASA.

 

National action plan

 

The CCC has a national climate change action plan and disaster risk action plan to help guide LGUs in terms of creating towns and cities that can survive climate change disasters and prevent deaths.

 

If a mayor is proven to have failed to act on a warning about the vulnerabilities of his or her town and providing measures to improve mitigation and reduce disasters, they can be “perpetually disqualified to run for office.”

 

“Ordinary citizens such as you, the youth, can help by making sure our leaders and everyone complies so we can prevent another Yolanda,” noted Sering.

 

Low-income towns, which has limited resources and access to technical experts on climate change,are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change-related typhoons, especially those in coastal areas.

 

The Philippines is currently receiving relief aid from abroad but this is a temporary stop-gap to address the devastation brought by Haiyan. What the Philippines needs to do is to be able to build communities better by looking into vulnerabilities backed by scientific data and offering proactive solutions, instead of reactive solutions during post-disaster disaster management.

 

Cheap and effective steps

 

Planting mangrove forests along coastal areas are seen as a cheap and effective barrier against tsunamis. Knowing this, the youth can demand school chiefs and LGU leaders to promote projects that help support climate change adaptation, Sering said.

 

“There is a need for climate change adaptation to be mainstreamed together with disaster risk reduction. In this era of social media, use your time on Facebook or Twitter to influence and keep others informed.”

 

One good way in which the youth can help the LGUs is by inquiring an updated location of evacuation centers in their area and investigating if the location is vulnerable or not.

 

“Climate change means more hazards, we should be proactive. Be a participant in disaster risk and management,” said meteorologist Nathaniel Cruz, the face of the I M Ready initiative under GMA Public Service and the University of the Philippines National Institute of Geological Sciences. — TJD, GMA News