We are not as ‘dirty’ as the rest

I am an advocate of cleaner air and a greener environment and, faced with the recent catastrophic calamities across the globe and here at home I am a keen watcher of climate change.  I believe it is everyone’s moral duty to contribute to a greener world, and for us Filipinos, a greener Philippines.

However, at a recent on cam interview on the TV show Business & Leisure with the president of FPI (Federation of Philippine Industries), Jesus Lim Arranza, there were some disturbing revelations that left me pondering on the real score on this issue.

I hope I don’t give the wrong message here: I believe climate change is real and is happening now across the globe, and responsible governments should act on measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. All the countries are now engaged in this singular mission, but what is the real score here at home versus the rest of the world, particularly the highly industrialized countries?

I think the revelations of Mr. Arranza are timely considering our own Philippine delegation is attending the Climate Change Summit in Paris this coming December.

Citing data from our own Climate Change Commission, the FPI report on GHG (greenhouse gas emission) cites China with the highest emission value at 9,679.30 giga grams or 22%, followed by the United States at 6,668.79 or15.6%and the European Union (28) at 4,663.41 or 10.9%. These top three are followed by India (5.7%), Russia (5.4%), Japan (2.9%), Brazil (2.6%), Germany (2.1%), Indonesia (1.9%), Canada (1.7%), Iran (1.6%), United Kingdom (1.4%), Australia (1.3%) France (1.2%), Malaysia (0.7%) Algeria (0.4%), and Myanmar (0.4%).

Where does the Philippines place in this comparative report of 10 countries? In the last place with a total emission value of 147.75 or 0.03 percent. Actually, on a fuller comparative report, the Philippines ranks no.47 in CO2 emission following Myanmar’s 46th place and Algeria’s 45th place.  The edited table was accurate up to the 12th place of Iran, after which the countries were randomly cited, shortening a very long list but still portraying the declining numbers in emission values.

The table presented by the FPI showed the various sectors’ contribution to GHG emission:  Energy had the highest CO2 emission at 69,667.24 giga grams, followed by industrial processes at 8,609.78, agriculture at 37,002.69.

The speculation of an irate and frustrated Jess Arranza (not this writer) is that the bigger industrialized countries want to relegate the Philippines to a mere supplier, not a manufacturer, hence the pressure on us to drastically cut down on our gas emission to the detriment of our manufacturing industry. To the Federation of Philippine Industries composed of several manufacturing companies, this translates to less manufacturing activities. Mr. Arranza sees this as a concerted move of certain industrialized countries to delay our industrialization so that as mere suppliers, we source and export our raw materials (the Philippines’ rich natural resources are the envy of many developed nations) to these big economies which they will then process and manufacture into finished products and then sell back to us.

In the interview, Mr. Arranza also lambasted the finger pointing of environmentalists focused at the coal plants operating in the country. Where the Philippines ranks high, at least in the region, as far as cost of energy is concerned, he defends the use of coal as an energy source as the most viable power option. Hydro power is still the cheapest, he said, but this is very sensitive to climate change and thus not as reliable. Solar panels on the other hand require big areas, a fact that poses a serious problem to our agricultural sector as they vie for space. Solar panels too are likely to be damaged in the event of super typhoons.

The interview naturally veered towards coal plants.  While there is no denying, even for this writer, that coal is “dirty” as compared to hydroelectric power and solar power, the point that Mr. Arranza is making is this:  while the Philippines has operating coal plants, the number of such plants in the Philippines is very small compared to other countries, so why the pressure on us?

His data on the Philippines’ power plants in relation to other countries is as follows:

China – 2,733 coal plants,U.S.A.-  2,133,India  - 569,Japan- 288,Russia- 197 and the Philippines- 16 coal plants

To put things in better perspective,  among the countries with the least coal plants are Mexico with 21, Brazil with 13, Pakistan with 1 and Bangladesh with 6.

I think the point of FPI as an organization in revealing these data is for the Philippine delegation to the Paris climate change summit next month to appreciate these comparative figures and not succumb to undue pressure from countries that contribute more to climate change than the Philippines.  Let us contribute our share in mitigating the effects of climate change, but let us put things in the right perspective when we represent the country in the coming summit.

The FPI president laments the fact that some DOE-approved coal-fired power projects are being delayed, even if these have already been given Environmental Compliance Certificates which assumes the presumption that their impact on global greenhouse emission is insignificant. A case in point is the Redondo Power Plant in Subic, which if allowed to proceed as scheduled would have saved the country from fears of power supply shortfall, Mr. Arranza pointed out. The FPI president also singled out the feed-in tariff on renewable energy where all consumers now pay 4 centavos/kilowatt, soon to be raised to 8 centavos/kilowatt in order for the government to raise its projected P3.7 billion as its guaranteed payment to power plants using renewable energy.  Is this actually true?

Instead, the Federation of Philippine Industries says, the government should train its eyes on co-benefit measures like more aggressive reforestation, traffic management which he says is a big factor in the pollution level in Metro Manila, and the APEC-endorsed energy efficiency. And review the measures that are being adoptedon renewable energy like the feed-in tariff. There is much to be learned about the feed-in tariff system, and I think the government owes it to the consumers to educate and inform them about the basics of this system.  I, for one, have not paid much attention to this until now, and I would certainly appreciate understanding the issue better.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.               

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