President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said climate change was behind the severe storms that caused massive flooding in Cagayan and Isabela in the last few weeks.
“The problem really is climate change, whether we accept it or not,” the President said in a briefing Sunday, after Typhoon “Ulysses” caused massive flooding throughout Luzon, from the Bicol region to Metro Manila.
Duterte said that during the East Asia Summit over the weekend, he urged nations to take action on climate change.
“I was very strong in my language about the people who contribute a lot [to] global warming,” Duterte said, noting that the Philippines itself was responsible for very little of this.
According to Robert Kaufman, head of the Philippine delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross, the strong typhoons that battered the country one after the other show the impact of climate change
"I think the takeaway from this is how heartbreaking it is to see the effects of climate change in real time. It’s one disaster after another. And no matter how much planning and training we do, we always need to do more," Kaufman said.
During the summit, Duterte also called on ASEAN's dialogue partners to recommit to climate action and to lead countries towards net zero emissions.
He also called for increased climate financing, technology transfer and capacity building in the region to help countries like the Philippines build sustainable and resilient communities.
“Climate change is not just a matter of survival. It is equally a matter of justice,” Duterte said.
A 2017 study by the Asian Development Bank said the Philippines had a low level of per capita greenhouse gas emissions, but note that these levels were growing at an annual rate of 4 percent between 2006 and 2012.
Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said he supported Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu’s call for the declaration of a climate emergency.
The resolution is supported by several civil society organizations and think-tanks, including the University of the Philippines (UP) Resilience Institute.
Salceda, who was also co-chair of the United Nations Green Climate Fund in 2013 to 2014, says that the Philippines must pursue foreign policy that will hold the world’s largest polluters accountable for the damage caused by the climate crisis in the country.
“I helped the Philippines get accredited with the Green Climate Fund, allowing us to have access to funding from the body. But that’s not enough…. The impact of climate change on countries like the Philippines must be compensated by the countries that benefit from the causes of climate change,” Salceda added.