By now, “Climate Change” is no longer that remote a subject for scientists, advocates, and world leaders alone to figure out as when the United Nations first discussed the issue in 1972 which led to several milestone initiatives most significant of which is the forging of the Paris Agreement in 2015 that directed all countries to examine and address their national contributions to climate change. Real life – extreme weathers, massive floods, unpredictable seasons – across the globe in the recent years undoubtedly helped to splash ice on the face of the general population.
However, it’s getting late in the day, to dilly-dally on concrete and emergency responses to the crisis. There are two critical dates to deal with or else… In 2030, 1.5C limit must not be breached. And by 2050, the planet must be carbon neutral for it to avoid an earth system collapse.
State of Nature Assessed
Thus, the 2024 edition of the annual State of Nature Assessment (SONA) by Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment, and Sustainable Economy (GC) held on August 28 and 29 predictably had the theme “Climate Change: Challenge to Sustainability” not only to paint grim scenarios but more importantly to assess current solutions and explore new ones to mitigate the crisis to make the planet remain sustainable. Held at the Tarlac Agricultural University auditorium in Camiling, Tarlac, the twin agenda both stunned, inspired, and energized an estimated 400-strong crowd of mainly faculty and students (high school to graduate courses) in Tarlac, Pampanga and other provinces and cities in Luzon, also environmentalists and workers from the national and local governments, church, business, NGOs, media. Local and regional programs were presented and contextualized in the current national situations. This is consistent with the coalition’s vision of being a catalyst for community action and synergistic collaboration with diverse organizations towards ecological sustainable development.
Problems and Solutions
The Provincial Government of Tarlac under the leadership of Susan A. Yap presented its TREES Program (Tarlac Rewilding & Ecological Enrichment and Sustainability) which must be a plus point for the selection of the province as venue and focus for this SONA (after making the rounds of Dumaguete, Baguio, Puerto Princesa, and Naga, and the regular venue in Miriam College, Quezon City).
Other presentations were on the following topics: floods and watersheds, drought and food security, quarrying, waste management, upcycling, carbon-neutral farming, SMART agriculture, enhanced environmental education/awareness, and the regenerative path of First Philippine Holdings. (Some of these will be discussed in future column issues.)
Green Convergence, of course, cited its key programs, and held a reading of a children’s book (in the 4-book set) which is a spin-off from the Philippine Native Trees books, four of which have been published and distributed mostly to schools and coalition members. Taking a special place is the Ako ang Bukas movement convened by Angelina P. Galang for GC which calls on all Filipinos to help address climate change using an AAB calculator that measures one’s carbon footprint and knowing this will act to lower his/her/organization’s carbon footprint. (More on this as a separate piece in a future column.)
Greening Philippine Politics
Teddy Baguilat, Jr., president of Angat Kalikasan Pilipinas, former congressman representing the Cordillera region, and now a Green Convergence board trustee, earlier in his keynote address, said that “we need to develop a political constituency for the environment … we need to create an electorate who will demand climate change as an important electoral issue.” I think with the mid-term election for senators and congressmen in 2025, and as high as the president and vice-president in 2028, that is one big step to take for a country which largely still falls short on electoral wisdom.
But, with the youth in the SONA event (some pursuing Environmental Science and Agriculture), demonstrating their smartness and depth in the Q & A and workshop portions, and agreeing to making climate a big political issue, there’s hope that the challenge to sustainability can be faced squarely and well. #
Erlie Lopez is a writer, poet, PR consultant, and environment advocate.
Contact: erlielopez@gmail.com
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