I'M HAPPY to know that more and more Bacoleños are relying on solar power for energy needs from street lamp posts, Christmas lights to electric motorbikes.
From the time of Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. to the incumbent Governor Eugenio Lacson, we have maintained a steady course on building the green economy to further wean the province from the sugarcane monoculture.
Even the San Sebastian Cathedral, it installed solar power panels on its roof. The cathedral is a popular landmark in Bacolod postcards.
Kudos to our provincial executives. Although they belong to different political parties, they agree on the same page on environmental policies. Of course the province has a long way to go before it is free from its fossil fuel addiction.
Being largely an agricultural country, the Philippines has a low carbon footprint. Last I checked, the country emits 126,922,662 tons, emitting .35 percent of the global output. Its just a dot compared to industrialized countries such as the US and China.
The country is a signatory to the 2015 Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 parties at COP 21 in Paris, on December 21, 2015 and entered into force on November 4, 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below two, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century.
The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral climate change process because, for the first time, a binding agreement brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects.
In 2015, Pope Francis wrote Laudato Si Pope Francis addressed to “person living on this planet” for an inclusive dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. Pope Francis calls the world to acknowledge the urgency of our environmental challenges and to join him in embarking on a new path. This encyclical is written with both hope and resolve, looking to our common future with candor and humility.
I even campaigned among my Catholic and environmentalist friends to sign a petition urging various leaders of the world to agree to a more drastic reduction. There is no happy ending yet. We will know by 2030. It's still an evolving process.