Catch the weekly dose of current and important global and local climate news from our News At A Glance.
ABS-CBN NEWS
'Green recovery' from COVID-19 pushed at CEO summit
By Bruce Rodriguez
Business leaders pushed for a 'greener' economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as they warned about the impact of the climate crisis. While it is important to address the pandemic, the climate crisis is an "even greater emergency" according to Federico "Piki" Lopez, chair and CEO at First Philippine Holdings Corp.
BUSINESS MIRROR
Youths in agriculture: Empowering and enabling a sustainable environment for the next gen
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of food security, food-related business, self-sufficiency and urban farming. Today, farming and agriculture have become viable business opportunities known as agripreneurship. This concept proved to be a major draw among the younger generation to invest in a future in agriculture and fisheries-related enterprises. Giving access to dialogues and decision-making relevant to the agriculture and fisheries sector is the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries’ (PCAF) Agricultural and Fishery Youthpreneur Council (AFYC).
BUSINESS WORLD
DENR says public can contribute to coastal clean-up by managing their household trash
By Angelica Y. Yang
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Capital Region (DENR-NCR) office will be holding clean-up activities in five coastal areas in Metro Manila on Sept. 18 in line with the annual International Coastal Clean-up. The DENR-NCR public affairs office told BusinessWorld that its personnel will be conducting clean-ups in Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park,
Climate change may push 216M people to migrate — World Bank
By Reuters
Washington — Without immediate action to combat climate change, rising sea levels, water scarcity and declining crop productivity could force 216 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050, the World Bank said in a new report on Monday. The report, Groundswell 2.0, modelled the impacts of climate change on six regions, concluding that climate migration “hotspots” will emerge as soon as 2030 and intensify by 2050, hitting the poorest parts of the world hardest.
GMA NEWS
Divers clear plastic waste from corals in Batangas for World Cleanup Day
By Peter Blaza
Divers pulled plastic bags, drinks bottles and fishing nets from a coral reef in Batangas on Saturday, joining an annual cleanup that aims to highlight the impact of garbage on the world's oceans. About a dozen divers cleared rubbish from the reef and nearby beaches as they marked World Cleanup Day in Batangas, a popular spot for snorkeling and diving south of the capital, Manila.
MANILA BULLETIN
PH committed to mitigate climate change-related crises — Locsin
By Roy Mabasa
The Philippines has renewed its commitment to the international community to adopt anticipatory action to prevent or mitigate potential disaster impacts even before such crises happen. Anticipatory action is a set of actions taken to prevent or mitigate potential disaster impacts before a shock or before acute impacts are felt. It is carried out in anticipation of a shock, based on a prediction of how the event will unfold. “We’ve gained the wisdom that predicting, preventing and mitigating the shock and impact of a disaster are key to risk reduction and management,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said at a virtual high-level humanitarian event, “Anticipatory Action: A Commitment to Act Before Crises” on September 9, 2021.
Cars contribute to climate change — UNIDO PH
By Joseph Pedrajas
Majority of vehicles being used today highly contribute to climate change, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) said Thursday, Sep. 16, as it also warned of its harmful effects. UNIDO Philippines national project coordinator Bellrose Buraga bared in a virtual briefing that “more than 90 percent” of cars currently running on the road use a cooling system or refrigerants that have a high global warming potential or “GWP value.”
France, UK seek ASEAN support to protect 30% of biodiversity by 2030
By Roy Mabasa
France and the United Kingdom are seeking the support of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in calling for more ambitious international action to protect terrestrial and marine habitats all over the world in response to the unprecedented rate of biodiversity loss facing the planet. The clarion call was made during a virtual roundtable entitled “Better Understanding of the 30×30 Target (Protected and Conserved Area Management) jointly organized by the Embassy of France to the Philippines and Micronesia, the British Embassy in Manila, and the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity on Sept. 9.
Producers suffer from tilapia, bangus glut
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
Despite the recent typhoons that hit some parts of the country, fish producers in Batangas and Pampanga assured that there is enough supply of fresh water fish. The problem is there is no demand. In a briefing hosted by food advocacy group Tugon Kabuhayan, Philippine Tilapia Stakeholders Association President Jon G. Juico said that demand for tilapia has been going down since last year and that even with the recent rains, the supply of the fish product was not affected.
Plastics industry facing shortage of materials for recycling
By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
Domestic plastics manufacturers are experiencing a shortage of plastic wastes for recycling due to huge gap in plastic circularity following strict campaigns against the use of plastic materials in the country. In a statement, the Philippine Plastics Industry Association (PPIA) warned that this situation posed a challenge for the government to increase its recycling rate beyond the 22 percent in 2019. PPIA President Danny Ngo stressed this as the industry is fighting against the passage of House Bills (HBs) on Single-Use Plastic (SUP) Phase Out and the Plastic Excise Tax Act stressing these bills will not resolve the marine litter problem. Instead, it would only create more serious problems for the country, he said.
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER
Climate Researchers 'Potty Train'cows
Wellington — Scientists say they have successfully “potty trained” cows to urinate in a designated toilet area as part of a program aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions. The team of New Zealand and German researchers admitted the idea began as a joke but said dealing with cows’ nitrogen-rich liquid waste could have genuine long-term climate benefits.
The case for climate change education
By Hendrik Garcia
I was talking to my kids the other day about climate change. They didn’t ask who pollutes the most, how much the damage would cost, or when we should act. They just said, “It’s scary, Dad. We need to stop it, now.” Sofia is eight and Sean is six.
Then it dawned on me. Maybe the best way to promote action on climate change is through education.
SUN STAR
Report: Climate change could see 200 million move by 2050
Barcelona, Spain -- Climate change could push more than 200 million people to leave their homes in the next three decades and create migration hot spots unless urgent action is taken to reduce global emissions and bridge the development gap, a World Bank report has found. The second part of the Groundswell report published Monday examined how the impacts of slow-onset climate change such as water scarcity, decreasing crop productivity and rising sea levels could lead to millions of what it describes as “climate migrants” by 2050 under three different scenarios with varying degrees of climate action and development.
THE MANILA TIMES
DBP grants P8.5B for rehabilitation, recovery
By Mayvelin U. Caraballo
State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has authorized P8.5 billion in funding support for the rehabilitation operations of both public and private institutions that have been negatively affected by the present public health crisis, according to a top official. DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Herbosa said in a statement on Friday that the bank's Rehabilitation Support Program on Severe Events (Response) and its subprogram DBP Response to Accelerate Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Recovery helped 90 businesses in the first half of the year.
Another case for distributed energy
By Ben Kritz
Renewable energy (RE) is not going to save the planet, at least not the way it is being pursued now. That was one of the key assertions of a very enlightening article written by Sean Sweeney for the City University of New York's (CUNY) New Labor Forum journal at the end of last month. Sweeney is the director of the International Program on Labor, Climate and the Environment at CUNY and the coordinator of Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED), a network of about 83 energy industry unions in two dozen countries. Given his background, it is only natural that Sweeney's context is the business of RE, and that is a rather effective approach to considering the broader problem of reducing energy production's impact on the environment.
The new IPCC report on climate change
By Carlos C. Salinas
In 2015, the countries participating in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed the Paris Climate Change Accord and agreed to keep the increase in global average temperature "below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. "In 2018, the UN warned that with this target, we had 12 years to limit the climate crisis.
DENR Central Luzon bans singleuse plastics
By Jerry M. Hernandez
The Central Luzon regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has banned single-use plastics in its office and premises to help reduce waste generation and protect river systems from plastic pollution. DENR Regional Executive Director Paquito Moreno Jr. issued a memorandum stating employees and food service providers would be strictly prohibited from using plastic bottles, cups, straws, cutlery, thin-filmed sando bags, polystyrene foam and plastic takeout containers.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR
Villar pushes more protected areas
By Paolo Romero
Sen. Cynthia Villar wants six more ecologically vital areas to be declared protected under the country’s National Integrated Protected Areas Systems (NIPAS). Villar, who chairs the Senate committee on environment, natural resources and climate change, filed Senate Bill 278 or the proposed Mt. Pulag Protected Landscape Act, SB 2280 or the Banao Protected Landscape Act, SB Bill 2279 or the Tirad Pass Protected Landscape Act, SB 1713 or the Mt. Arayat Protected Landscape Act, SB 2277 or the Sicogon Island Wildlife Sanctuary Act and SB 2276 or the Naga-Kabasalan Protected Landscape Act.
Philippines is still Asia's deadliest country for protectors of nature
By Gaea Katreena Cabico
The Philippines remained the worst place in Asia for land and environmental defenders in 2020, with at least 29 people killed for their defense of nature, according to a report of an international rights watchdog. In a report published on Monday, Global Witness said 227 protectors of the Earth were registered killed last year—more than four a week on average.
CCC in the News
MANILA STANDARD
Do good for the planet
By Bernadette Lunas
It is hard to imagine how a person’s decision to forego single-use plastic or buy a product with an “eco-friendly” tag creates a significant impact in the fight against climate change. It is, after all, a global issue involving millions of people. One piece of plastic doesn’t make much damage, right? It is hard to imagine how a person’s decision to forego single-use plastic or buy a product with an “eco-friendly” tag creates a significant impact in the fight against climate change. It is, after all, a global issue involving millions of people. One piece of plastic doesn’t make much damage, right? Wrong. While the problem is large-scale, climate change experts say individual action – which may seem irrelevant – does make a difference, good or bad. “Every act matters; it all accumulates,” said Philippine Climate Change Commission commissioner Rachel Herrera.
PANAY NEWS
Love and loss
By Belinda Sales Canlas
On September 11, 2021, I had the privilege of guesting Commissioner Rachel Sibugan Herrera of the Climate Change Commission under the Office of the President of the Philippines, as resource person of my radio talk show, Woman Talk with Belinda Sales Canlas. Commissioner Rachel is married with one daughter, a graduate of the UP College of Law in Diliman, Quezon City – a lady lawyer, who completed her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science at Ateneo de Manila University, and a graduate of an Executive Program – Program Management for Development at Asian Institute of Management. Her advocacies include Environment, Single-Use Plastics Regulation, and Climate Change Action.
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER
Vulnerable Dumagat folk find light, lift in solar power
By Krixia Subingsubing and Mariejo S. Ramos
Up until a decade ago, nights in Sitio Manggahan — an upland settlement of the Dumagat-Remontado, indigenous people (IP) rooted in Tanay, Rizal province, since the Spanish era — limited students like Margie Amuin to doing their homework by the glow of gasoline lamps. Then slowly, house by house, solar power technology began transforming the Sierra Madre community: tribal leaders bought panels from Manila, then private organizations donated some more. It was as though “a light switch had been turned on across Manggahan,” said Amuin, now a 34-year-old teacher, recalling one particular night in 2014.
THE MANILA TIMES
Young Filipinos are frightened about their future
By Ludwig Federigan
A new global study titled "Young people's voices on climate anxiety, government betrayal and moral injury: A global phenomenon" manifests the deep anxiety of young Filipinos about climate change:
· Ninety-two percent of are frightened about their future.
· Seven out of 10 (73 percent) think that humanity is doomed.
· Nine out of 10 (93 percent) feel that fellow Filipinos have failed to care for planet.
· Eighty-four percent are very to extremely worried about their future under climate change.
· Seventy-seven percent feel their family security is threatened.
· Seventy percent feel that they have less opportunity than their parents while almost half (47 percent) are hesitant to have children of their own
