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ELSEWHERE in this issue there’s a story by our
correspondent Imelda Abaño, coming out of the Business
for the Environment Global Summit 2008 in Singapore,
indicating that Filipinos are among the world’s leaders
in the drive to carry out serious lifestyle changes to
address climate change. This, in turn, is based on a
global public-opinion survey presented Tuesday to more
than 1,000 business leaders from over 30 countries
attending the Singapore summit.
The
global poll of 22,182 people in 21 countries, including
1,000 Filipinos in urban areas, suggests that citizens
in general—including those in the United States and
China, the world’s biggest polluters—are more prepared
than their governments are to support tough measures.
And,
interestingly, the citizens who indicated such
willingness for doing what it takes to start serious
measures to slow climate change cut across both the
developing and developed world.
“It is
now up to the government leaders and the business
sectors alike whether to support climate action or not,”
Doug Miller of polling company GlobeScan, who made the
presentation at the summit, asserted.
An
overwhelming 95 percent of Filipinos are eager to step
up and are ready to make significant changes in
lifestyle to prevent global warming, according to the
poll. Canadians came second with 91 percent stating
their readiness.
Looking
at this poll, the impulse is to heave a sigh of relief
that, at least, here’s a global poll where Filipinos
look good. That’s a normal reaction. Yet, the poll
results also pose a serious challenge: as we know from
experience, Filipinos are rather great at expressing
intent to do good things—maybe that accounts for the
dramatic rise in the number of civil-society groups,
nongovernment organization (NGOs) and people’s
organizations (POs) here since the 1980s (estimates vary
from 18,000 to more than 25,000)—but are plagued by that
culture derisively called ningas cogon.
Yet,
here—in that whole range of issues embraced by or
overlapping with climate change—is the best opportunity
for Filipinos, whether we’re talking of government,
business big or small, civil-society pillars like Church
and media, or NGOs and POs, to make a real difference.
The stakes are high and there is no room for
half-hearted or “showcase” initiatives. Like the rest of
the world, this archipelago of more than 7,100 islands
will be affected by the immediate results of global
warming, i.e., rising seas, aggravated by waterways
damaged irreparably by man-made pollution and siltation.
As
farmlands shrink and food sources are imperiled both by
extreme weather and unsustainable practices, people will
also feel the threats to shelter and health as diseases
get out of control.
Clearly,
everything covered by the range of concerns associated
with climate change is rooted in lifestyles.
Therefore, there are at least three initiatives, already
under way, which should be pushed urgently—by the
government, private sector and citizens. The first is
the focus of this year’s Earth Day celebration in the
country: the rehabilitation of our waterways. If we’re
so insignificant a dot in the ocean that we don’t have
as much power as the rich carbon emitters to increase or
reduce global warming and rising sea levels, then the
least we can do is to make sure we don’t aggravate the
peril to ourselves by cleaning up our waterways. On
Earth Day, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza used the
occasion to hammer home his main advocacy of
rehabilitating the rivers, lakes and bodies of water,
under the theme “Tubig ay Buhay: Ating Pagyamanin at
Linisin.” The country, Secretary Atienza noted, has 421
major rivers and 20 river basins, but around 50 of these
are already in various stages of degradation.
One
first step in this direction is the campaign by the
Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), an attached
agency of the Environment department, to start
demolishing illegal fish pens and other structures at
the Laguna de Bay.
The
second imperative is to continue planting and
reforesting wherever possible—and, while we’re in the
business of planting, encouraging people to do home or
backyard planting of vegetables, fruits and spices that
can be done at that level. That way, ordinary folk can
blunt the impact of dizzyingly high prices in the market
for commodities.
Finally,
there’s the use of energy. In the late 1970s and early
1980s, when the Philippine National Oil Co. was in its
infancy, the government and private business mounted a
successful energy conservation program. So many new,
beneficial developments in energy technology have since
taken place, and all concerned must seize on these
breakthroughs and options in order to temper energy
use—both to soften the impact on the planet and reduce
drawdowns on natural resources which further marginalize
the poor.
The most
doable option in this area is to pass the
renewable-energy bill, which has taken all of 10 years
to shepherd through Congress while “green” investors
sighed over the wind and sun energy Filipinos are
blessed with but which are taken for granted.
Last we
checked, the bill is in its last stages in both House
and Senate, and there is no excuse—nay, there should be
no forgiving failure this time—if the bill isn’t passed
into law soon.
The
GlobeScan poll presented in Singapore showed Filipinos
responding most enthusiastically to practically every
lifestyle option: from patronizing businesses that are
eco-friendly, to buying products that don’t further
damage the environment, to using energy-efficient and
clean technology at home and in the workplace.
Last we
heard, more local governments are tying up with
investors in renewable energy, inspired by such
acclaimed successes as the pioneering wind farm in
Bangui, Ilocos Norte, and the solar-powered communities
of Sulu. Indeed, as the ongoing Singapore summit has
shown business, going “green” is not a matter of just
wanting to do good—but of doing something essential to
survival, and something that pioneers have proven to be
economically sound, after all.
The
dictum, “if there’s a will, there’s a way” may be one
cliché, but in this case, taking it to heart could well
spell the difference between living and dying.
The
global poll shows Filipinos have the will: one hopes
that in the chaotic free market of “green” ideas,
they’ll pick the right way. |
