HomeNewsGreen activists urge new Environment chief to impose moratorium on destructive projects

Green activists urge new Environment chief to impose moratorium on destructive projects

"With her experience, we expect her to use and rely more on science-based analysis to decide on environmental policies and practices"

Pro-environment activists called on the Philippines’ new head of the Environment department to take urgent climate action and impose a moratorium on destructive projects.

“She must stand against the various reversals of regulations on mining undertaken by former president Rodrigo Duterte,” read a statement from the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment.

The group urged the government to impose an omnibus moratorium on all “extractive and destructive projects that have not undergone honest-to-goodness environmental due diligence.”



The presidential palace this week announced the appointment of disaster resilience expert Ma. Antonia ‘Toni’ Yulo-Loyzaga to lead the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Yulo-Loyzaga is the president of the National Resilience Council, which commits to building a resilient Philippines using science and technology-based public-private partnerships.

She is also a former executive director of research institute Manila Observatory at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University.

Tony La Viña, associate director for climate policy and international relations of the Manila Observatory, said Yulo-Loyzaga “combines a strong grounding in the natural and social sciences with an understanding of the business sector and urban poor communities.”

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The Alyansa Tigil Mina said it is “cautiously optimistic” with the appointment of Yulo-Loyzaga.

“With her experience, we expect her to use and rely more on science-based analysis to decide on environmental policies and practices at the [Environment department],” read the group’s statement.

“It will be interesting to see how her science-based background will respond to the clamor of the economic team for more mining projects, that [environmental] science says will increase our risks and vulnerabilities to climate impacts,” it added.

Kalikasan-PNE urged Yulo-Loyzaga to put on hold the Tampakan Copper-Gold in Mindanao, the Sibuyan Nickel, Didipio Copper-Gold, and Cagayan and Lingayen Offshore mining projects “until our minerals management policy framework is rationalized based on sound science and social justice.”

“Likewise, infrastructure projects such as the Manila Bay Aerocity, Pasig River Expressway, Kaliwa Dam, Gened Dam, Ahunan Hydro Power, and the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge, among others, must cease and desist to address opposition by host communities, local environmental defenders, and independent experts,” the group added.

The activists said Yulo-Loyzaga “can play a pivotal role in negotiating a concrete mechanism for just compensation over loss and damage in the upcoming UN climate talks.”

“The Philippines must compel the top polluter countries and corporations to pay for the billions of dollars worth of extreme climate impacts we have suffered,” said the group.

It said the new Environment chief “can also be the bridge to land and environmental defenders who are doing important frontline work across millions of hectares of besieged landscapes and seascapes.”

“She must stand with the indigenous people, small farmers, park rangers, sea wardens, and active citizens who have suffered harassment, red-tagging, and deadly attacks for standing up for the environment,” it added.

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