MANILA, Philippines - After Super Typhoon "Yolanda" devastated several areas in the Visayas, Philippine Climate Change Commissioner Yeb Saño started an online petition urging the public to join the call on cutting pollution.
Saño, the Philippine government’s lead negotiator at the United Nations climate talks in Warsaw, Poland, created the petition on the community campaign website avaaz.org last Nov. 12 or four days after Yolanda (Haiyan) barreled through central Philippines.
The petition targets a million signatures and will be delivered to the negotiators of other countries in the UN climate talks. It has garnered 613,520 signatures as of 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Saño said in the petition that the super typhoon was made stronger and deadlier by man-made climate change.
He lamented that countries with the greatest responsibility and capacity to act on the issue "have shirked their obligations to cut pollution as the science demands."
"Superstorm Haiyan is a climate nightmare -- carbon pollution is driving more frequent and intense storms which are devastating vulnerable communities. New realities require new politics, I urge you to stop the sad tradition of feet-dragging on commitments to cut pollution, and breaking promises on finance," the petition said.
Saño said the "new climate reality" must be acknowledged and that a new system that will manage risks and help nations deal with the losses should be in place.
"I call on you to stand with the Filipino people by taking major steps forward on these issues at the Warsaw climate talks," he said.
"Together our voices can push the governments meeting at the UN climate summit happening now to ratchet up pollution controls and help poorer communities with funding," the Filipino official also said.
Yolanda swept through the Visayas more than a week ago, destroying structures and thousands of houses with its record winds and meters of seawater that it pushed inland.
The government said Yolanda affected over 10 million people in 574 towns and 57 cities including four million residents displaced from their flattened communities.
A total of 3,982 people have been reported dead while 1,602 are missing.
The total cost of damage incurred from Yolanda's devastation was pegged at P11.7 billion.