Duterte to consider proposal to declare climate emergency

President Rodrigo Duterte will look into the proposal of environmental group Greenpeace for him to declare a climate emergency to ensure that the government will respond to the effects of climate change with urgency.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday that the President “will consider the suggestion made by Greenpeace,” which favors an executive order that will pave the way for the Philippines’ “rapid and just transition to a low-carbon pathway through the phase out of coal and fossil fuel investments.”

Greenpeace renewed its call last week after Duterte told the United Nations General Assembly that parties to the 2015 Paris climate accord should honor their commitments.

He said people in developing countries like the Philippines could not afford to suffer more from the consequences of climate change such as droughts and strong typhoons.

“The fact na sinama po ni Presidente iyong climate change sa kaniyang talumpati [sa] kauna-unahang pagkakataon sa UN General Assembly ay nagpapakita na talagang binibigyan ng prayoridad ng ating Pangulo ang problema ng climate change,” Roque said.

“Isa kasi tayo sa parang top five o top 10 countries na pinakamaaapektuhan ng climate change at kung hindi nga po maaabatan ang climate change baka lumubog ang malaking teritoryo ng Pilipinas pagdating ng panahon,” he added.

A 2018 report by HSBC assessing 67 developed, emerging and frontier nations found that the Philippines is the third most vulnerable nation to the effects of climate change, after India and Pakistan.

Last year, Duterte questioned how climate change commitments could be enforced given the lack of a governing body and sanctions against countries that fail to do their part.

“There has to be accountability,” the President told the 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia in Tokyo in May 2019. — BM, GMA News