CLIMATE advocates in the Philippines blamed the US government for the climate destruction that gave rise to Supertyphoon Yolanda that killed thousands of lives and left damages worth billions of pesos across central Philippines in November last year.
“Due to historical emissions of the US and other Annex 1 countries [developed countries], we are suffering from climate impacts, like Typhoon Yolanda,” said Gerry Arances, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) national coordinator, in a rally on November 4 in front of the US Embassy in Manila. “Current emissions by the US fall below what is necessary to limit global mean temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Proof of human influence on climate change has new scientific evidence, the group said. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted recorded in recent years is the highest in history.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its latest report noted that “anthropogenic GHG emissions have increased since preindustrial era, driven largely by economic and pollution growth, and are now higher than ever” the group added. It triggered the rise of global temperature that prompted climate change, it said.
PMCJ held the US as the biggest GHG emitter, saying “about half of the CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions during a 261-year period, from 1700 to 2011, occurred in the past 40 years.” Over 70 percent of the total volume of GHG emissions during the four decades was released to the atmosphere by industrial activities and the smoldering of fossil fuel.
IPCC Assessment Report 2, states that developed countries are accountable for 83 percent of the global GHG emissions from 1800 to 1988, the PMJC said. The US was responsible for the 33 percent, European Union 26 percent. Developed countries refuse to take responsibility, which is demonstrated in the sluggish progress in their commitment to reduce GHG emissions, said Lidy Nacpil, PMJC lead convener. “Under the climate convention, Annex 1 countries must provide climate finance for the adaptation needs of developing countries,” she said. “Climate finance from Annex 1 countries must be obligatory, automatic and covered by a legally international agreement.
It must be public in nature and should not be in the form of loans or any other debt-creating instruments.” The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was meant to finance developing countries’ global adaptation, Nacpil said.
It was generated to back projects and programs in developing countries, like the Philippines.
By 2020 GCF is expected to reach $100 billion. A negotiation in Warsaw that immediately followed after Yolanda’s onslaught sought to begin outlining “loss and damage mechanism” to “provide financial accountability on climate impacts,” she noted. The US and developed countries should not hamper the charting of the mechanism, Arances said. They should accept the accountability and compensate for the damages by Yolanda.
The US will “continue to be partly responsible” for future strong typhoons that will pass the Philippines if it will not undertake immediate and massive reduction on GHG emissions, he said. “To avoid catastrophic climate change, global energy-related GHG emissions have to decrease by 10 percent to 20 percent per year, hitting zero between 2035 and 2045,” Nacpil noted.
“This means we must transition to 100-percent renewable energy.”
Image credits: PMCJ photo