Government urged to declare national climate emergency

Government urged to declare national climate emergency

At a press conference on Earth Day 2024, environmental, climate justice, and multisectoral groups called attention to the climate crisis-exacerbated impacts of the ongoing El Niño, which is expected to bring even warmer temperatures in May and is projected to be succeeded by the opposite La Niña phenomenon by the second half of the year.

The latest situational report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reports that as of April 20, at least 58 cities and municipalities have declared a State of Calamity amid El Niño, nearly 30,000 farmers and fisherfolk have been affected, and damage to agriculture alone has reached over Php 1.2 billion.

Carrying a representation of the Earth burning with fever, the groups led by the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), SANLAKAS, Oriang, Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK), and others called on the Philippine government to declare a national climate emergency.

In a statement, the groups questioned the adequacy of the Marcos administration’s preparation for and action to “alleviate the impacts of El Niño exacerbated by the climate crisis on Filipinos, who are yearly robbed of their lives and livelihoods from intensifying climate impacts.” The groups also “denounce its development directions that aggravate our climate vulnerability and contribute to worse global warming - including allowing the proliferation of mining in vulnerable areas, and backing massive expansion and reliance on dirty coal and gas.”

“The Philippine government can lead Filipinos toward either climate justice and action, or hunger and death. We will not allow the latter,” the groups said.

“We call on the Marcos administration to finally and genuinely acknowledge the climate crisis, and declare a national climate emergency now. In doing so, it must allocate funds for the adaptation and resilience of vulnerable communities from intensifying climate impacts, including immediate relief for communities impacted by the El Niño; commence the phaseout of massive coal dependence, reject the expansion of reliance on gas, and ensure a swift and full transition to 100% renewable energy; implement development policies and planning for safe, sustainable, resilient communities at the national, subnational, and local levels; and secure the finance and resources necessary for sustained and ambitious climate mitigation and adaptation and reparation for past climate impacts, by representing the genuine interests of the people in multilateral international spaces and guided by the principle of climate justice,” read the statement.

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