 |
| Mount Kitanglad. |
Press Release: ScienceNewsPhilippines
The
weather is going to be a lot more weird.
And
you better prepare for extreme events, the Climate Change Commission (CCC)
warns.
In
the Philippines, carbon dioxide emissions are increasing, CCC Commisioner Yeb
Saño told a workshop on Environmental Leadership in Climate Change Adaptation.
The
workshop was convened by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study
and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) and the Department of Agriculture's Bureau
of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR).
The
workshop was held to strengthen the capacity of community leaders who struggle
to adopt and address climate change that impacts on food and agriculture.
Increasing
carbon dioxide emissions reflect a worldwide trend although the Philippines absorbs
more greenhouse gases than it produces, Saño said.
Carbon
dioxide is a major source of greenhouse gases, so called because of their
contribution to global warming. Its emissions in the country is up because of
the increasing demand for electric power and transport fuels, Saño said.
Greenhouse
gas emissions increased from 60,000 kilotons in 1994 compared to the 100,000
kilotons of carbon dioxide in 2000, the latest figures used by the Greenhouse
Gas inventory. A kiloton is 1,000 tons.
The
surprise, Saño said, is that the highest jump in emissions was caused by
garbage. “People don't segregate, and they dump garbage together,” he said.
Garbage emits 64 percent more methane, for example, which is 21 times more
potent than carbon dioxide, he added.
If
the Greenhouse Gas inventory includes land use and
forestry, carbon dioxide emissions decreased from 100,737 kilotons in 1994 to
21,767 kilotons in 2000.
However,
because of discrepancies between 1994 and 2000 values for forestry, forestry is
often not included. In that case, carbon dioxide emissions increased by 25
percent, from 100,865 kilotons in 1994 to 126,878 kilotons in 2000.
The
highest increase was caused by waste, up 63.5 percent from 7,094 kilotons in
1994 to 11,599 kilotons in 2000. The second largest increase came from the
energy sector, up 39 percent from 50,038 kilotons to 69,667 kilotons in the
same period.
Carbon
dioxide emissions from agriculture increased by 11.69 percent, from 33,130
kilotons to 37,002 kilotons from 1994 to 2000. Emissions from
industrial processes actually decreased by 18.8 percent during the same time,
from 10,603 kilotons to 8,609 kilotons.
The
latest inventory, based on 2000 data, shows that carbon dioxide emission is
nearly a ton (.9 tons) of carbon dioxide for about every Filipino each year.
That's not including carbon dioxide emitted or absorbed by forests.
.jpg) |
| Mount Apo. Photo from National Integrated Protected Areas Programme |
“It's
way below the global average of 1.2 tons and way, way below the American
average of 20 tons,” Saño said. In Southeast Asia, the highest emissions come
from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei; the Philippines is just ahead
of Cambodia and Laos.
“We
still have 'almost' enough forests to absorb that much carbon dioxide, which is
about 100,000 tons each year,” he said.
“The
big thing is, we are at the receiving end of carbon dioxide emissions and one of the countries least prepared for climate change,”
Saño pointed out.
“The
SEARCA and DA-BAR workshop is clearly part of the country's efforts to enhance
knowledge on climate change,” he said. “It is an opportunity to transform
technical people into climate change advocates.
“We
need a lot of champions as the bureaucracy finds it difficult to understand
climate change. This is one step towards understanding its impact and how to
cope with it,” he explained.
“It
will go a long way into promoting advocacy as the onset of the problem is very
slow and, being humans, we tend to think it will not be drastic and will not
happen tomorrow,” he said. “But we actually have a very small window to start
working before it's too late.”