Cagayan de Oro City —Aksyon Klima on Thursday welcomed the plan of the incoming administration to push for renewable energy and review the proposed coal-fired power plant projects.
The incoming chief of the National Economic and Development Authority, Ernesto Pernia, announced in television last June 2, 2016 that there should be a gradual move towards more renewable energy.
“President Rodrigo Duterte should have clear policies within his first 100 days on the urgent need to shift to clean renewable energy,” Marita Rodriguez, AK lead convenor said.
AK is an alliance of civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations for the promotion of climate-sustainable policies. It lobbies for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
AK also led policy discussions on climate related issues, which have resulted in policy recommendations on Philippine negotiating positions and submissions to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change.
“It took the outgoing Aquino administration his entire six-year term to issue a resolution to formulate a policy on coal power plants,” Rodriguez added.
Rodriguez said that under the Aquino presidency, nine coal power plants were added to the then existing eight almost doubling the installed capacities of coal in the country’s energy mix from 4,260 megawatts when he started in 2010 to 7,850 MW now.
“The Aquino administration has also approved an additional of more than 20 coal-fired power plants to be constructed in the next few years,” Rodriguez added.
Electricity generation from coal is a major source of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that cause climate change.
President Benigno S. Aquino III signed in his penultimate month the Climate Change Commission Resolution No. 2016-001 directing Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Energy, and Neda to develop a policy on coal-fired power plants in pursuit of a low carbon development pathway for the country.