Carlos G. Dominguez
Secretary of Finance
Vice Chairperson and Executive Director of the Climate Change Commission Emmanuel De Guzman; fellow workers in government; Doctor Angelina Galang, President of Green Convergence; members of the academe; the business community; youth groups; non-government organizations; local communities; civil society groups and development partners: Good morning.
I thank everyone for making time to participate in this second multi-stakeholder consultation for framing our first NDC or nationally determined contribution to the global effort to fight the climate crisis.
The NDC is the central element of the Paris Agreement. Forged among 196 countries in 2015, this accord is the last great hope to turn back the scourge of global warming.
Because nations have different circumstances, resources and abilities, the Paris Agreement leaves it to the countries to set their contributions to reduce carbon emissions. The Philippines, unfortunately, did not put enough effort in the past to craft our NDC and build the broadest consensus behind it among the stakeholders. This second multi-stakeholder consultation intends to correct that.
The national program for reducing carbon emissions and bringing down pollution levels requires both political will and public support. Such a program will entail lifestyle changes, tighter regulations, and some amount of economic costs for everyone. Without political will and public support, the program will likely be met with resistance. I, therefore, call on everyone to set our differences aside and cooperate on this effort.
In our case, a strong mandate to reduce single-use plastics appears to be an obvious element in our NDC. A 2015 report on plastic pollution by the Ocean Conservancy Charity and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment ranked the Philippines as the world’s third biggest plastics polluter in the oceans. This is an embarrassment. This is irresponsible. We need to move to curb single-use plastic products for our own sake and to conserve the sustainability of our oceans.
As the Chairperson-designate of the Climate Change Commission, I fully support the enactment of legislative measures banning single-use plastics. This will be a crucial component of effective solid waste management and climate crisis action. Once passed, every single Filipino, by not consuming plastics, is contributing to help save our environment.
On the matter of defining our first NDC, ambitiousness is a virtue. Let us aim high, make our nation proud, and accept our responsibilities for saving the planet.
There is no merit in the argument that we have a small carbon footprint and, therefore, do not need to do much to help the rest of humanity. We are a nation of over a hundred million people with a median age of 25. As our economy resumes its rapid expansion, our carbon footprint will grow with it. Committing to reduce our carbon footprint is a matter of survival for our future generations.
I urge the participants in this meeting to have foresight and muster the courage to redefine our development along lines of sustainability. There will be pain in making the adjustments. But it is the life of the planet that is at stake here.
The Philippines is one of the countries most vulnerable to natural calamities and hazards. If we allow the death of our seas and the continued deterioration of the world’s climate, we will suffer the most.
In a word, we have higher stakes in this global effort than many other nations. I want us to be a world leader in making a difference in this battle against the climate crisis. I want us to pave the way in this area through our ambition.
This is precisely the reason why we need to take a bolder collective action in crafting our first NDC. It is better to be late and to have ambitious and well-thought out contributions, rather than poorly constructed ones submitted on, time without a general consensus behind it.
In all our efforts, I hope we will constantly be guided by science. Climate crisis is much too important to be distracted by geopolitics. All the elements of our contribution must be feasible and should lead to a better economy for our people.
I trust that the participants in this meeting will work the hardest and imagine creatively. The outcome of this consultation will be our nation’s manifesto to the world, a statement that a determined, clear-sighted, and committed people can do much to roll back the deterioration of the only planet we have.
I wish this consultative process all the best and look forward to a broadly supported definition of our national contribution to fight global warming. After that, the real hard work begins.
Thank you.
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