Energy mix, environmental protection top list of Filipinos’ future concerns

MANILA, Philippines - Nine out of 10 Filipinos rank future energy as a top concern, and believe government should play an active role in building a cleaner energy mix, according to a recent study released by Shell.

The research, called the ‘Future Energy Survey,’ sought to assess the views of the Filipino public on future energy. 

The survey involved face-to-face interviews with respondents from Manila, Cebu, and Davao. Filipino households said reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and climate change are top priorities.

“Clearly, Filipino households are aware that future energy and environmental problems will impact their way of life in the future. The growing vigilance among Filipinos on the interdependence of energy, environment and their impact to water and food are worthy of everybody’s attention,” said Shell’s vice president for communications and government relations Roberto S. Kanapi.

Based on the survey results, nearly nine out of 10 (87  percent) Filipino households consider future energy needs to be an important issue.

Other top issues include employment, public education, the environment and pollution. 

Respondents believe the future energy mix should consist of natural gas, wind power, hydro energy and solar energy.

To build this energy mix, Filipino households said collaboration between community, industry and government should prevail. They also called for innovation and economic incentives for cleaner energy to ensure a healthy future energy mix is achieved.

However, for seven  out of 10 Filipino households (73  percent), national government is considered to have the biggest role to play in creating a better energy future, followed by local government units (42  percent), general public (41  percent), industry (37  percent) and the international community (23  percent).

On top of future energy concerns, environmental protection also ranks high among the concerns of Filipino households. Over nine in 10 (93  percent) of  Filipinos consider it important to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.  The CO2 gases caused by human activities affect the increasing temperature of the atmosphere leading into climate change which is also one of the most important issues for Philippine residents according to the survey.

“But it is worth noting that current Filipino households are already undertaking environment protection initiatives towards the reduction of CO2 emissions. Based on the survey, seven  out  of 10 respondents (74  percent) say that they use less CO2 -emitting machines and technologies.  Other environment-friendly practices include proper waste disposal, the of use energy saving products, and recycling,” added Kanapi.

Kanapi pointed out that Shell, being at the forefront of energy and fuel efficiency, advocates the use of energy more efficiently by implementing the simplest and most cost-effective way to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change through driver education, fuel efficient driving behavior, and smarter mobility collaboration and strategic partnerships to fuel progress.  

“As Shell aims to meet the world’s future energy needs with a diversified energy mix and cleaner energy, we enjoin consumers and businesses to use energy better, to do more with less, and make energy conservation a way of life,” he stressed.