Civil society groups and green activists expressed disappointment over the latest draft of the Philippine government’s proposed climate commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Climate Change Commission presented on December 23 the latest draft of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) text to representatives from the business, academe, media, and civil society sectors.
In the latest version, the Philippines aims to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 percent by 2040 from its “business-as-usual scenario” (2020-2040), with at least 2 percent of these reductions to be done unconditionally.
The draft NDC also presented aspirational targets of emissions peaking by 2030 and at least 15000 MW of additional renewable energy capacity by 2030.
“We express our extreme concern, disappointment, and collective scorn with the latest draft NDC text,” said Rodne Galicha, convenor of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas.
He said the draft “undermines the ‘whole-of-government-and-society’ approach that the Philippine government itself has been implementing in pursuit of sustainable development.”
The Philippines reduced its intended NDC from 70% conditional commitment to 30%, with only 2% unconditional and 20% dependent on foreign assistance.
“There are many aspects of the NDC that we need to understand with our members,” said Dr. Angelina Galang, president of Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy.
The group has requested a copy of the “to study it more thoroughly.”
The Global Catholic Climate Movement – Pilipinas, meanwhile, reminded the Philippine government of its “moral duty to the Filipino people in inclusively engaging the marginalized and vulnerable sectors” in the finalization process of the NDC.
“Collective action is indeed necessary but it is on a higher moral ground to genuinely consult and hear the voices of grassroots communities and peoples organizations who were and will be affected by the climate crisis,” said John Din, national coordinator of the movement.
“We demand that the final version of the NDC be made public before submission after undergoing an inclusive and transparent process with stakeholders in the remaining time for finalization with a peaking year for the Philippines’s GHG emissions to be set way before 2030,” said Galicha in a statement.
A joint statement by various civil society groups called for setting “target limits to the production and consumption of fossil fuels by 2030 and 2050, with a peaking year for coal being set much earlier than other fossil fuels.”
It also wanted “the integration of the interlinkages between climate change mitigation options and cross-cutting issues with implications on enhancing adaptation, such as poverty alleviation, gender, health, education, biodiversity loss, pandemic, and youth development into the finalized first NDC.”
