AKSYON KLIMA PILIPINAS STATEMENT ON TROPICAL STORM NALGAE (PAENG) AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON GLOBAL AND NATIONAL CLIMATE POLICIES AND ACTIONS

prixbanzon

Nov 2

On tropical storm

AKSYON KLIMA PILIPINAS STATEMENT ON TROPICAL STORM NALGAE (PAENG) AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON GLOBAL AND NATIONAL CLIMATE POLICIES AND ACTIONS

Just over a week before the start of the latest global climate negotiations, the Philippines was confronted once more with the reality of the climate emergency.

The nation experienced the impacts of Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae ("Paeng"), which has already made multiple landfalls across Luzon. While not carrying as strong winds or as much rainfall on its own as several typhoons that hit the country in recent years, the overall impacts it has inflicted on 1.8 million Filipinos affected, with over PHP1.2 billion of damages to agriculture and infrastructures, must never be underestimated.

"Paeng" is the latest reminder of how the changing climate, caused primarily by pollution produced from burning fossil fuels like coal and fossil gas, results in the exposure of regions and communities to extreme impacts which they rarely experience in their history. Arguably the hardest hit by the storm has been the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; while not directly on its path yet, the torrential rainfall triggered flash floods and other hazards that has killed 53 persons in the region (as of this writing).

The recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to declare a national state of calamity for the next 12 months speaks volumes of the degree of impact "Paeng" has had across the country, from the millions worth of damages to the agricultural sector that threaten to worsen existing food insecurity to non-economic losses and damages dealt to entire neighborhoods.

As our state officials prepare to represent all Filipinos at the climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt (COP27), the impacts of "Paeng" should remind them of exactly what is at stake. Resilience is not enough to respond to the climate crisis, especially the way it is being romanticized in the Philippine context. Positions that our negotiators would carry at COP27 must be anchored on enhancing preventive solutions over reactionary actions that would not place even more burden on the most vulnerable peoples, and hinder our ability to transform into a low-carbon, climate-smart, climate-resilient, and justice-grounded nation.

They also need to exemplify good climate governance by holding accountable government units that had shortcomings that led to the casualties and damages caused by this storm, while actively repudiating false narratives being spread on social media to distract Filipinos from this duty of accountability. It is a reminder that the climate crisis does not choose who would feel its impacts, which is why it is vital to embody the "whole-of-nation" approach to addressing relevant issues and implementing genuine solutions.

Aksyon Klima Pilipinas (AKP), the country's largest civil society network for climate action, reiterates the following recommendations in light of tropical storm "Paeng":

We call on the Philippine government delegation to COP27 to integrate the following calls as part of its official positions:
- A loss and damage (L&D) financing facility must be established at COP27, with the resulting modes for funding and support for the most vulnerable peoples being accessible and grounded on climate justice.
- Developed countries must deliver not only on their promise to double adaptation finance, but also to ensure a more even allocation of finance between adaptation and mitigation, as well as establishing equitable, consistent financial flows towards the most vulnerable nations and communities.
- Developed countries need to not only fulfill their collective pledge to mobilized USD100 billion for developing nations, but also begin laying the foundation with developing nations in setting and defining a far more ambitious new collective quantified goal on climate finance by 2025 that truly meets the needs and demands of the most vulnerable.
- All nations, especially the highest-emitting countries, must urgently enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions with targets and timelines for reductions of emissions of all greenhouse gases, consistent with pathways aligned with a 1.5-degree warmer world.
- Parties must establish well-defined implementation plans and strategies for the phaseout of coal-fired power plants and hasten a just transition towards renewable energy resources, aligned with the goals of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 45% by 2030 and achieving net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
We reiterate our call on the national and local governments of the Philippines to declare a climate emergency and mobilize more resources and support to scale-up adaptation and mitigation programs, projects, and activities nationwide. We demand that the Philippine Congress pass a law for climate emergency declaration, which must include reducing our reliance on fossil fuels (instead of increasing it, as is the case with the current push for fossil gas expansion), upholding climate justice and related human rights, and scaling up actions to avoid or minimize L&D. We also recommend for local governments around the country to pass local resolutions on climate emergency declaration, including on committing to limit climate-related L&D and strengthening partnerships with different sectors to address local impacts. We present once more the following draft of a sample resolution for local governments to commit to enhancing climate action within their jurisdiction, in the name of a "whole-of-society" approach to facing the gravest existential threat to current and future generations. (PR)