PH urged: Reduce coal use, stick to Paris promise
The Climate Change Commission (CCC) called on the government to review its energy policy and use more renewable resources in its energy mix in meeting the country’s power supply requirements.
“Updating our roadmap to massively favor clean sources would allow the Philippines to be at the forefront of this aggressive and massive trend of investment and transition from fossil to renewable energy. This would allow the Philippines to not only contribute to global efforts to combat climate change but reduce growing economic and financial risks associated with carbon intensive energy sources such as coal,” said CCC vice chair Emmanuel De Guzman.
CCC said the year 2015 marked an unprecedented growth and recognition of renewable energy in the world. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more than 90 percent of new electricity generated last year came from renewable energy sources, with investments reaching a record-breaking $328.9 billion.
On the other hand, coal—which emits large amounts of carbon dioxide that causes acid rain, smog, etc.—is starting to be seen as a risky long-term investment. Peabody, the largest coal mining company in the world, recently declared bankruptcy.
Long-term institutional investors are also slowly moving away from their fossil enterprises, choosing instead to invest in greener sources of energy.
“It is now imperative for our country to adjust energy models with the global trend in renewable energy use in mind in order to come up with roadmaps with definitive actions for the power sector, and eventually for the transport industry and other key sectors,” De Guzman said.
In October 2015, the Philippines submitted to the United Nations its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) or its contribution to global efforts to fight and adapt to climate change. The Philippines promised to reduce by 2030 its carbon emissions by 70 percent.
De Guzman said the roadmap should also take into consideration the country’s pledge to limit to 1.5 degrees Celsius the global warming as agreed upon at a UN conference in Paris last December.
The Philippines, which chairs the Climate Change Vulnerable Forum (CVF), led a campaign for the inclusion of this 1.5 degrees Celsius cap in the climate change accord drafted at the 21st Conference of Parties in Le Bourget, France. The CVF is a coalition of 43 countries most vulnerable to climate change.
On April 22, Earth Day, the Philippine government and 195 other countries are set to sign this Paris Agreement at the UN Headquarters in New York, US. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding deal.
