QUEZON CITY, Philippines (05 April 2022) – Following the release of the third part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, Greenpeace renewed its demand on the incumbent and incoming Filipino leaders to stop procrastinating on addressing the climate crisis. The group stressed the need to implement genuine solutions and to hold the world’s biggest polluters accountable for their contributions to worsening climate impacts.

According to the IPCC, solutions exist for at least halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, in line with the Paris Agreement warming limit, with emphasis on shifting to renewable energy. In the case of the Philippines, however, the outgoing government is instead peddling nuclear energy as its alternative to fossil fuels, while leading candidates for the 2022 election are either on the fence or are misinformed with regard to addressing climate issues.[1]

“The latest IPCC report affirms that there is no future with fossil fuels and that we need to shift to renewable energy fast,” said Greenpeace campaigner Khevin Yu. “We can’t afford distractions like nuclear energy, at the cost of our health, economy, and the future of our country. It is our next leaders’ responsibility to ensure renewable energy solutions are in place, and to make informed decisions in addressing the climate crisis.”[2]

In underlining the conditions for enabling the needed emission cuts, the IPCC also acknowledged that climate litigation is growing around the world, and can affect the outcome and ambition of climate governance. The first human rights complaint against the world’s largest coal, oil, gas, and cement producers was filed in the Philippines before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in 2015, triggering the National Inquiry on Climate Change–the landmark national investigation into corporate responsibility for the climate crisis.[3]

The petitioners composed of civil society organizations and individuals are still waiting for the CHR to issue its final resolution from the investigation, which included a series of public inquiry hearings in Manila, New York, and London in 2018.

“Every year we wait for genuine climate action is another year of lost homes, livelihoods, and loved ones for our fellow Filipinos,” said Marinel Ubaldo, a Super Typhoon Haiyan survivor who took part in the aforementioned complaint and testified before the Commission in the New York hearing. “We are again demanding that our leaders stop ignoring the calls of the grassroots, those worst affected by climate impacts, and put pressure on the big polluters and countries continuing to destroy the climate.”

In addressing the worsening climate crisis and the proposals outlined by the IPCC, the Philippine government must:

  • Hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the climate crisis and call on other countries to do the same. It must also lead the call for a global phase out of fossil fuels toward a just transition to renewable energy.
  • Call on rich countries for more ambitious emissions reductions targets, more money for climate finance, and compensation for loss and damage.
  • Ensure rapid transition to renewable energy at home by phasing out coal, stopping fossil gas expansion and targeting 50% of RE in the energy mix by 2030. 
  • Ratchet up the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). At the moment, the country has promised a 75% carbon emissions reduction from 2020 to 2030, but the unconditional target is only at 2.72%. 
  • Ensure the Climate Emergency Declaration is followed through with a coherent climate plan. The government must institute climate action as the central policy of the state, and must protect people and climate on the basis of climate justice. Climate action must also be at the heart of the country’s COVID recovery plan.

“With the climate crisis on a relentless pace, now is not the time to take dangerous detours – we have to head straight towards climate justice,” Yu said.

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Notes to Editors

[1] Greenpeace | 2022 Presidentiables and Climate Justice
[2] Greenpeace on nuclear deal: Desperate, misguided EO must be revoked
[3] On the CHR Petition | Demand climate justice

Media Contact:

Maverick Flores 
Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +639176211552

Katrina Eusebio
Digital Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
[email protected] | +639992296451