Duterte told to end
‘coal addiction’ in the Philippines
Press Release
July 15, 2016
MANILA – Climate
advocates today asked the Duterte administration to ban new coal
projects and prioritize the national energy policy review that was
launched by the Climate Change Commission last month.
Representatives of local
church groups and national climate networks renewed their calls to
stop the proposed 600-megawatt coal plant of JG Summit in the city and
to review the existing Renewable Energy (RE) Law, more than a month
after the 10,000-strong Piglas Batangas, Piglas Pilipinas anti-coal
march last May 4 in Batangas City.
In the forum “Prospects for
the Fight Against Dirty Energy Under the Duterte Administration,”
representatives of Piglas Pilipinas, a nationwide campaign for the
Philippines to break free from fossil fuels, shared insights on the
current anti-coal struggle in the Philippines.
Former Batangas City
Councilor Kristine Balmes, who is also a member of the Lipa
Archdiocesan Ministry for the Environment (AMEn), underlined the
efforts of different sectors, including the Roman Catholic Church, in
the ongoing struggles against coal projects.
“In Batangas City, a recent
decision by the City Council has allowed the construction of a
600-megawatt coal plant near the Verde Island Passage, a center of
marine biodiversity in the country and the world,” Balmes said.
“Despite this, the community as well as people from civil society and
the Church, continue to be vigilant in its opposition against the
project and has recently found an ally with the provincial governor
who has vowed to oppose the project.”
Meanwhile, Ian Rivera of
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice' (PMCJ) noted that while there
are 29 proposed power plants adding to the 15 already existing in the
country, a number of significant developments have been achieved by
the anti-coal resistance in the country.
“With the Climate Change
Commission subjecting proposed coal projects to reviews within the
coming 6 months, as well as the pro-renewable energy pronouncements
expressed by the newly-elected President and his Environment Secretary
Gina Lopez, we can say that the movement for a more sustainable,
people-centered energy system is only getting stronger,” said Rivera.
According to Rivera, in
order for the Philippines – one of the most vulnerable countries to
the impacts of climate change – to keep its intended
nationally-determined contribution (INDC) to reduce emissions and
combat climate change, it must begin the transition away from the
largest contributor of global warming-inducing greenhouse gas: carbon
dioxide, which comes mainly from coal.
The Philippine government
has pledged to reduce its emissions by 70% by 2030 in its INDC, but
this pledge is dependent on international climate financing and other
support mechanisms. According to the civil society network Aksyon
Klima Pilipinas, the Philippine government should not only offer
conditional pledges, but should also offer unconditional targets based
on its fair share of the global efforts.
"We support the Philippine
INDC, however we call on the government to show seriousness on the
targets by defining the extent of what the country can do on its own
and what more it can do when enabled. Marching orders should be issued
to all agencies to adjust plans, projects, programs and activities,
with meaningful consultations with, and participation of, all
stakeholders to make sure that we are on target by 2030," said Ruel
Cabile, Aksyon Klima Pilipinas national coordinator.
Another highlight of the
forum tackled the global shift from fossil-fuels to renewable energy
that is currently gaining momentum as the largest financial
institutions are starting to dump coal from their investment
portfolios and moving their investments to renewable energy, causing
the bankruptcy of the world’s largest coal companies, such as Peabody
Energy, the world’s largest private-sector coal producer, which filed
for bankruptcy in April 2016, as well as Arch Coal, which owns the
second-largest U.S. coal reserves behind Peabody, and which filed for
bankruptcy in January 2016.
The Norges Bank Investment
Management has also denied Aboitiz Power and other coal companies
access to its Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest
sovereign fund worth US$ 850 billion, as a result of coordinated
campaigning between local and international movements that are calling
on institutions to Immediately freeze any new investments in fossil
fuels.
According to Gerry Arances
of Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED), the
international movement is increasingly shifting public opinion against
the proliferation of coal projects across the globe, “In the past few
years, many countries, like Norway, Denmark and even the United
States, have stopped funding coal projects as a response to the
growing pressure from grassroots movements.”
“A recent study from Oxford
University has found that coal power plants are more and more becoming
'stranded assets,' meaning they are likely to be kept running in spite
of the technology being obsolete and unprofitable economically,”
Arances stated. “This means that while renewable energy sources are
increasingly becoming affordable, countries like the Philippines will
end up being bound to an outdated, costly and destructive energy
source,” he continued.
“We should not subject
Filipino consumers to this costly and dirty energy,” Arances asserted.
The Philippines is at a
crossroads as to whether it will pursue the previous government’s
high-carbon path, or change course to tap the large potential of
renewable energy in the country and align itself in accordance with
its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming
to below 1.5 degrees. The challenge lies in engaging all levels of
government and business, to be able to push for the common goal of
shifting power away from coal, and moving it towards renewable energy
that benefits both people and the planet.
The forum was held at the
monthly Kamayan Forum organized by Green Convergence for Safe Food,
Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy together with Sanib Lakas
para sa Inang Kalikasan.