Philippine Climate Watch Alliance
#26 Matulungin St. Central District, Diliman, Quezon City
Tel.: +63 2 9248756 fax: +63 2 9209099 email:philclimatewatch@gmail.com

19 November 2008
Press Release

Grassroots organizations and communities link up vs. global threat of climate change:
Philippine Climate Watch Alliance launched
 

Grassroots organizations, scientists and environmental groups formally launched today the Philippine Climate Watch Alliance (PCWA) to lead a national advocacy campaign on the issues of global warming and climate change.

Meggie Nolasco the National Spokesperson of PCWA said that the Philippines is among the developing countries that is most vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, based on global scientific consensus and the recent Fourth Assessment Report of UN IPCC.

"However, the present government and its agencies are making our country ill-equipped to respond to the impacts of climate change by not pursuing comprehensive policies and programs to respond to climate change" she added.

According to government records and data, the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) continue to raise our national green house gases (GHG) emissions by implementing programs and projects, which result in unprecedented pollution and environmental destruction.

"The Philippine government should instead stop green washing and seriously address the issue of climate change. This can be done first by immediately stopping projects, such as mining revitalization program, fossil fuel development projects, and other highly extractive industries, which only compound the problem of climate change.

Ms. Felina Mendres, leader of Mahan, a national peasant women federation and one of the convenors, said that poor people particularly in the rural and coastal areas would be the most affected by climate change. Rising sea level, landslides, prolonged drought, and extreme weather patterns is being highly felt in our communities.

"Poor Communities should have more access to information about climate change and strong assistance from the government to raise and develop our capacity to respond to global warming and the changing climate. We are suffering twice, we are displaced by anti-people policies and by the environmental consequences of such extractive projects."

The formation of the alliance is timely as the Conference of Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP) are nearing its final leg of negotiations in the establishment of a post-Kyoto Protocol global agreement on climate change. The COP 14 will be held on December 1-12, 2008 in Poznan, Poland.

"On December meeting, since the Philippine Government has no concrete programs that will contribute to the global initiatives against climate change, PCWA will put forward a strong demand to developed countries to reduce by 50-90% carbon emission in the next three decades and for the Philippine government to develop a participatory roadmap responding to global warming and climate change. We believe this is doable and justifiable to avert a global temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius," says Dr. Giovanni Tapang, convenor of PCWA and chairman of progressive group AGHAM.

According to scientific consensus an increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius in mean global temperature would have serious irreversible consequences leading to catastrophic events beyond any human experience.

"We are calling for the establishment of an efficient, equitable and transparent global financial mechanism with sufficient climate fund should be established under the COP. This is to ensure the judicious use of resources for people's adaptation to climate change impacts and the installation of effective mitigation measures. The industrialized nations such as the United States, European Union and Japan which are historically responsible and culpable over global warming should be the primarily contribute to this climate fund," Dr. Helen Mendoza, a climate change activist and also PCWA convenor.

In their Unity Statement, PCWA says, "The root cause of global warming is rooted in the unsustainable, wasteful and profit-oriented production of the global economy. Under this set up, industrialized countries and their TNCs will continue to extract, produce, and consume carbon-based fuels in an unsustainable and detrimental level. The current neo-liberal globalization policies of industrialized countries, international financial institutions and export credit agencies, which the Philippine government firmly adheres to, perpetuate this situation."

Reference:
Meggie Nolasco, Kalikasan-PNE, spokesperson PCWA, 924-8756, 09163733275.
 

Felina Mendres, AMIHAN, convenor of PCWA, 9223982.

Dr. Giovanni Tapang, AGHAM chairperson, convenor of PCWA, 0928697480.
 

Philippine Climate Watch Alliance
#26 Matulungin St. Central District, Diliman, Quezon City
Tel.: +63 2 9248756 fax: +63 2 9209099 email:philclimatewatch@gmail.com

20 November 2008

"Stop the hogwash, address climate change now" Philippine Climate Watch Alliance tells President Arroyo

The newly-launched Philippine Climate Watch Alliance (PCWA) hit President Gloria Arroyo at the opening of Carbon-Cutting Congress versus Climate Change (CCCvsCC) held at the Malacanang Palace today.

PCWA, a new alliance of grassroots organizations and NGOs launched yesterday at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, asserted that the Arroyo administration has to date failed to institute policies and mechanisms that will genuinely and comprehensively address the issue of climate change in the country.

"It has been almost two years since President Arroyo declared that her administration will seriously act on the issue of climate change and its impacts on poor Filipinos. Yet, what this administration has only done so far are issuances of motherhood statements, creation of task-forces and appointments of government officials. No genuine policy frameworks or comprehensive programs on climate change have been established," said Meggie Nolasco, PCWA spokesperson.

President Arroyo declared November 19 to 25 as an annual "Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week" through Presidential Proclamation 1667. In February 20, 2007, President Arroyo issued issued Administrative Order 171 creating a Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC) which is being headed now by Department of Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes. She also appointed former DENR Secretary Heherson Alvarez as her Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change.

Mr. Alvarez said the results of the CCCvsCC will help the Philippine delegation to the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP-14) in Poland from Dec. 1-12 2008. The congress proceedings and results will also be submitted to the President for use in possible programs of action against climate change as she meets with world leaders in the summit of Heads of State of the Asia –Pacific Economic Cooperation and Association of South East Asian Nations.

"The Philippine delegation to COP 14 is still formulating its position. It has no concrete proposal on how much global carbon emission reduction developed countries should take. At the same time, it follows to commit to expand market based and profit oriented solution such as carbon trading and clean development mechanism (CDM) in the country. This in spite of the general observation that these solutions fail to reduce carbon emissions and becoming a convenient excuse for developed countries and private corporations to continue emitting GHGs in the environment," explained Ms. Nolasco.

PCWA is calling for the reduction of global carbon emissions by 50% to 90% of the 1990 levels within the next three decade saying this is to avoid the critical 2 degrees Celsius increase in global temperature.

"Even worse, Mrs. Arroyo's globalization policies on mining and energy, our environment continue to deteriorate. This situation compounds climate change and puts our people more at risk to the impacts of global warming. This administration should stop its hogwash solutions, and seriously address climate change by first formulating a national policy framework which considers and upholds the interest and welfare of the majority of our people and the environment over foreign and private corporations," Ms. Nolasco ended. ###

Reference:
Meggie Nolasco, Kalikasan-PNE, spokesperson PCWA, 924-8756, 09163733275.

KALIKASAN-PNE
KALIKASAN PEOPLE'S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
26 Matulungin St. Central District, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel./Fax; +63 (2) 924-8756; E-mail: kalikasan.pne@gmail.com
Press Release
 

November 20, 2009

Green groups welcome Sen. Jamby as chair of Senate Committee on the Environment; remain wary of Senate President Enrile

"We very much welcome Senator Jamby Madrigal's appointment as the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources. Senator Madrigal's positions in issues critical to the environment such as her opposition to JPEPA, her call to repeal Republic Act 7942 or the Mining Act of 1995 and her critical stand against the anti-environment administration of Gloria Arroyo speak well of her pro-environment stand. We expect that said Committee will finally discuss and pass resolutions and bills that favour the protection of the environment and wise utilization of our natural resources," said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of environmental activist group Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE).

Kalikasan PNE, however, added thay they remain wary of Senator Enrile as the Senate President.

"On the other hand, it is a fact that Senator Enrile's notorius background as a big-time commercial logger and a long-time key official of the Marcos dictatorship, does not sit well with environmental groups. His recent approval of the JPEPA and his failed attempt to resume commercial logging in the pristine forest of Samar Island shows his toxic taste and environmentally-hazardous positions," Bautista said.

"Based on the record of Sen. Enrile, he will support anti-environment bills and anti-people agendas such as the Charter Change being promoted by President Arroyo and Malacanang," Bautista said.

An indigenous people's leader also lauded Senator Madrigal's appointment and urged her to probe into the extent of large-scale mining operations in the country.

"One of the most urgent and important environmental issues that Senator should tackle is the issue of mining in the country. Large-scale mining particularly those owned by foreign transnational mining companies have creating havoc to our environment and massively displacing people especially in the indigenous people (IP) and peasant communities. Her committee can start investigating the reported connivance of some officials of National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) and mining companies which led to violations on Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of IP communities," said indigenous leader Santi Mero, spokeperson of Defend Patrimony.

Defend Patrimony is a national multisectoral alliance opposing the mining liberalization and large-scale mining in the Philippines.

"If the Senator is true to her commitment to the welfare of the environment and indigenous people, she will hasten the deliberations in the rejection of Philippine Mining Act and the formulation of a People's Mining Policy which upholds the interest and welfare of the Filipinos and environment," said Mero.

"We challenge Sen. Jamby to remain steadfast for the environment and maverick in the Senate in relation to the anti-environment agenda of Arroyo and her allies. Unlike the balimbings in the Senate, she must not compromise her previous position on charter change, mining and logging," ended by Bautista.

References:

Clemente Bautista: 09228449787
Santos Mero: 09182898174