Rallies APEC leaders to work together for global economic recovery
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday warned of “dark clouds” looming ahead on at least three fronts—food security, global health systems, and climate change—as he rallied leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to revitalize the region’s role as a driver of the global economy.
“Dark clouds loom large if we are not…prepared. They loom on the economic horizon and now more than ever, our governments and economies must work closer and better together as partners in order to find that break in the clouds where the light of hope and progress can shine through,” Mr. Marcos said in a speech delivered during the APEC CEO Summit in Bangkok.
“These shocks to our system have had… a deleterious effect on our efforts at fostering inclusive growth. To prevent a situation from becoming a prolonged and self-perpetuating problem, we need to immediately address structural and policy issues with the objective of enabling rapid economic recovery and growth in a manner that creates jobs, includes more people into the mainstream, and reduces poverty and inequality,” he added.
Marcos said three issues are critical to this effort: food security, reinforcing global health systems, and climate change.
“Food security is a serious global problem. This is felt by every household, by every family, by everyone. The issues that the world faces now—from climate change, to inflation, to war—are viewed by the ordinary Filipino through the lens of food security,” he said.
The rise in commodity prices, coupled with supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures have contributed to the rising prices of food, he said.
“Food security must be a top priority for all governments and developing economies especially must have the policy flexibility needed to ensure an increased domestic food production and diversification and to improve the local agricultural supply and value chain,” he said.
Mr. Marcos also underscored the importance of beefing up health systems not only against emerging COVID-19 variants but other infectious diseases that may emerge, too.
“Governments must continue to invest in pandemic preparedness and in ensuring the resilience of the global health system. Adopting the One-Health approach and strengthening health surveillance systems for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, from the human-animal-environment interface, can be part of the solution,” he said.
The President said the third concern—climate change—is “the most pressing existential challenge of our time.”
“The Philippines is one of the countries at great risk from the climate crisis, as it stands to lose more than 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) annually by 2100, based on a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB),” he said.
“Global agreements that seek multilateral and multinational solutions to the climate crisis, particularly the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, are there and they are in force. But not enough progress has actually been made, as emissions continue to rise. The Conference of the Parties, the COP 27 is in full swing, but stronger action is required,” he said.
Mr. Marcos said the Philippines is targeting 35 percent renewable energy in the power generation mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, focusing on hydropower, geothermal power, solar and other low-emission energy sources.
“The future of APEC lies in its ability to revitalize its role as the region that drives the global economy… We must leverage our region’s core strengths and values as the premier forum in the Asia-Pacific, as an incubator of cutting-edge ideas, as a pathfinder for collaborative solutions to new and emerging trade issues, and as a laboratory for forward-looking and responsive economic and trade policies,” the President added.