NEVER has the City of Lights been so relevant to the City of Smiles – or for that matter, the province and the whole country. World leaders opened pivotal climate talks this week in Paris, insisting that the stakes are too high to end the Conference of Parties (COP), an annual forum to try to tackle climate change on a global political level.
Except that COP21 is a make-or-break situation for the world. Going home without achieving a binding agreement to lower two degrees Celsius increase is to write finis to the world as we know it.
As he told reporters on the papal plane after his African pilgrimage, Pope Francis said that the time to do something was now or never. “We are on the brink. We are on the brink of a suicide, to use a strong word.”
“Our collective security depends on our ability to act,” said President Benigno Aquino, as he pushed for a legally binding agreement and appealed for the Philippines and other vulnerable countries for further financial assistance to help them cope with the impact of climate change at the start of the United Nations climate conference in Paris.
Unfortunately, the Philippine President has to put his words into practice. If our collective security is in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he must first put a stop to the proliferation of coal-fired power plants.
In fact, many developing countries facing rapid increases in population and surging economic growth see coal as a relatively cheap option which is why the Philippines is planning a total of 23 new coal plants. These countries want their cakes and eat them, too. Collective security be hanged!
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned that climate disasters may double in the next two decades unless the world cuts its carbon dioxide emissions. “High risk” nations in Asia – like the Philippines – set to be hard hit. The Bank said deadlier storms, floods, and heat waves such as the current El Niño were linked to rising global temperatures.
In contrast to the Philippine president, US President Barack Obama boasted that recent economic growth in the United States has come despite a lack of growth in carbon emissions, proving that climate advancements need not come at the expense of the economy or individual livelihoods.
Said the US President, “That’s what we seek in these next two weeks –
not simply an agreement to roll back the pollution we put into the skies, but an agreement that helps us lift people from poverty without condemning the next generation to a planet that is beyond its capacity to repair.”
Thank God that Negros Occidental is turning out to be a different kettle of fish from the national government. No less than the Department of Energy recognizes that the province is poised to be the hub of solar power generation.
Negros Occidental: proud to live in a province, once a sick man of the Philippines, now a glowing and growing model of a climate change resilient economy where organic agriculture and renewable energy rule.*
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)