QUEZON CITY, 29 October 2021 — Ahead of the start of the climate talks in Glasgow on Sunday, Greenpeace Philippines called on the country’s delegation, led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, to champion climate justice, and to push for accountability from big polluters and an urgent fossil fuel phaseout.
“We trust Secretary Dominguez will uphold the Filipino people’s demand for climate justice at the UN climate talks,” said Greenpeace Philippines Campaigner Virginia Benosa-Llorin. “However, beyond speeches, we believe the Philippines must also take leadership in calling out big polluters—particularly corporations most responsible for the climate crisis—accountable. Urgent climate action is imperative and this call for justice must be made alongside a firm demand for the urgent phaseout of the fossil fuel industry.”[1]
The climate conference comes just a few months after the release of the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).[2] According to the scientists behind the report, the world needs to make immediate, dramatic and consistent emissions reductions to create the urgent and necessary change to contain the climate crisis. Concretely, this means the world needs to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach zero by 2050 in order to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
The Glasgow Conference of Parties (COP) is the most significant global climate conference since the Paris COP in 2015, when most nations finally committed to ensuring a safe, stable climate by keeping temperature rises within 1.5C. COP26 is the deadline for governments to submit their plans to cut their emissions to stay under the 1.5C warning. However, current commitments are not enough. The latest UN report update synthesizing country pledges [3] shows that with the current level of commitments, a 16% increase in emissions will happen by 2030 compared to 2010 levels, which in turn may lead to a 2.7C rise in global temperatures by the end of the century.
The Philippines submitted its pledge, or its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) last April, vowing to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030. However, most of the 75% is conditional, through external assistance, and only a mere 2.71% will be reduced unconditionally. “The Philippines climate leadership needs to be more than lip service. Greenpeace believes that the Philippines can do more and must also take the high ground in mitigating climate emissions. In reality, the country’s current energy plans are still fossil fuel-heavy, and the government has yet to lay down a clear pathway to an urgent and just transition to renewables,” Llorin said.
Additionally, Greenpeace is calling on Sec. Dominguez and the Philippine delegation to reject plans to open a global market in carbon offsets, which is expected to be discussed at the meeting. Greenpeace maintains that carbon offsetting is a greenwashing scam promoted by big polluters in order to continue business-as-usual—and delay taking necessary and urgent steps to enable an energy transition.
“We hope to see a strong position brought in by the Philippine delegation to Glasgow—but we also need this to be supported by genuine climate action back home. The Duterte administration still has time to put in place green recovery measures from COVID 19, strengthen the coal moratorium announcement by actual cancellations of planned coal facilities, aim for 50% RE by 2030, and protect and restore ecosystems to build resilience,” Llorin concluded.
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Notes to Editors:
[1] Filipinos await the conclusion to the world’s first Climate Change and Human Rights Inquiry, filed at the Commission on Human Rights in 2015, seeking to hold carbon majors, such as Shell, Chevron, Exxon, BP, and Total, accountable for human rights impacts arising from climate crisis. Read more.
[2] IPCC 6th Assessment Report https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/
[3] NDC Synthesis report https://unfccc.int/documents/306848
Greenpeace has laid out for necessary climate actions that we want to see agreed to at COP26:
- Stop all new fossil fuel projects immediately and phase out the industry
- Set ambitious emissions-cutting plans to halve global emissions by 2030
- Reject plans to open a global market in carbon offsets (they’re a scam and don’t work) and rather set rules for equitable international cooperation
- Ensure $100 billion a year goes from high-emitting countries to those countries bearing the brunt of climate impacts caused by the climate crisis” to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis, develop clean energy systems and transition away from fossil fuels. And more money on top of that for further adaptation and to compensate for the damage already being caused by climate impacts in vulnerable countries. The biggest historic polluters need to show solidarity with people and countries on the frontline of climate impacts.
Media contact:
Angeli Cantillana
Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +63 998 595 9733
Filipinos are enduring the worst impacts of climate change, caused by greedy corporations. It’s time to hold them to account!