‘We are feeling its impact’: Makati City declares climate emergency
MANILA, Philippines — Following a webinar on climate change last week, Makati City Mayor Abby Binay declared a climate emergency in the city and now calls on all stakeholders to help the city achieve its climate goals.
In her closing statement at the “Cafe Talk for Resilient Makati,” Binay cited data from state weather bureau PAGASA that showed the Philippines has had a 0.75 degree-celsius annual increase in temperature over the past 70 years. The country’s temperature is anticipated to get hotter in the next years, reaching an annual 1.8 degrees celsius increase by 2050.
She further noted that the city has become more vulnerable to extreme weather changes. She warned that this could lead to the "destruction of public services" as well as lead to the displacement of families.
“Makati City has found enough reason to declare a climate emergency in the city and we are well aware that much still needs to be done to achieve our climate goals,” Binay said, adding that the city is looking to work on reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
She said the city also plans to “educate and engage” its citizens in its effort to mitigate climate change.
In a February publication this year, the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions noted that Makati City is becoming “a role model for resilient cities.”
The story said the city government is trying to update its local climate change adaptation plan, its greenhouse gas framework plan, and its environmental management plan in a bid to reach net zero by 2050.
Among the city’s efforts include investing on a resilient energy grid, aiming to introduce accessible plant-based food by 2025, adopting a green building code to give incentives to the construction of energy-efficient infrastructure, and looking for ways to introduce a smart public transport system.
The House of Representatives declared a climate emergency in 2020 under the 19th Congress, as it acknowledged that "global warming exists and that measures taken up to this point are not enough to limit the changes brought by it." President Rodrigo Duterte considered doing the same earlier that year as Greenpeace Philippines called on him to issue an executive order to make climate change part of policy-making.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has yet to declare a climate emergency but has talked about climate and the environment in his speeches, including the State of the Nation Address.
- Latest
