ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) SOUNDS ALARM ON CLIMATE
CHANGE
[PHOTO - Urban risk has
become an increasingly important development issue. Effective risk management is
often seen as a cost rather than an investment. Major cities in Asia and the
Pacific face threats from floods, earthquakes and tropical storms. These fast
facts illustrate why we must invest in Urban Disaster
Management.]
MANILA, MAY 4, 2012 (PHILSTAR) By Neil Jerome
Morales - Time is running out on the fast-growing Asian region to step up and
help prevent catastrophic climate change, foreign experts said yesterday.
"Asia is at a crossroads. The region's rapid economic growth has often come
with concerns over environmental degradation," Asian Development Bank president
Haruhiko Kuroda said during the Climate Change and Green Asia seminar of the
45th annual meeting of the ADB's Board of Governors.
"We are increasingly using resources at the cost of environment; unless we
change, the hard-won gains in reducing poverty and improving the quality of life
for Asian people could be reversed," Kuroda said.
In a study presented during the seminar, the ADB Institute (ADBI) urged
governments to create a carbon market, phase out pervasive fossil fuel subsidies
and establish an Asian free-trade zone for high-impact, low-carbon technologies
and services to promote green growth in Asia.
ADBI estimated that Asia and the Pacific will require more than $6-trillion
worth of investments in new energy infrastructure by 2030.
Emerging economies like the Philippines should seek international support to
come up with more green projects.
"In the Philippines, you have to search very actively for what renewables are
available," Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute of Columbia
University, told The STAR in an interview.
"Some can be tapped effectively with national resources, others need
international help to be effective at this. We absolutely need to mobilize that
international financing," Sachs said.
For the Philippines, Sachs said renewable resources that can be further
tapped include geothermal, solar, wind and hydropower.
To date, the Philippines sources 35 percent of its total power requirements
from renewable energy sources.
"The world has promised financing but it has not come up with it yet
adequately," Sachs said, adding that a global fund should be collected to
encourage developing countries to choose the greener course.
Fighting disasters caused by climate change
[PHOTO - TYPHOON SENDONG]
Meanwhile, an official of the United Nations stressed yesterday the need for
the Philippines to be more resilient in times of disasters caused by climate
change, especially after thousands remained homeless following the onslaught of
tropical storm "Sendong" last year.
During the media seminar at the New World Hotel in Makati City yesterday,
Margareta Wahlström, a representative of the UN Secretary General of Disaster
Risk Reduction (DDR), said the UN team wants to educate the public on how to
lessen the impact of disasters in the community.
"(There are) 100,000 people still homeless after Sendong. What we wanted to
achieve is to talk to them on how to ensure that the impact next time will not
be as serious," Wahlstrom said in a press briefing that followed the seminar.
Sendong hit northern Mindanao last Dec. 16, leaving more than 1,200 people
dead.
The UN team had met with 20 mayors in Mindanao to look into what local
governments can do with a legal framework for DRR and Climate Change Adaptation
in place. "That's the context of our discussions," Wahlstrom said.
"The main focus is really to follow up on what we learned in Mindanao and the
engagement of the lawmakers, S&T sector and local governments on DRR," she
said.
The group is expecting to get more inputs as they prepare for a larger
meeting with mayors from 31 LGUs in Albay hosted by Gov. Joey Salceda.
Wahlstrom said the Philippines has shown "many encouraging signs" but it
still needs a lot of hard work to maintain the attention and focus of
authorities on addressing DRR initiatives.
Sen. Loren Legarda also underscored the need for better media coverage and
understanding of DRR activities so that the information is well disseminated to
the public.
"The issue of DDR has surged and generated awareness and attention (of media
and the local government unit). We are now able to understand that national
frameworks must work locally," Legarda said.
Both officials likewise recognized the problem on the strict implementation
of the NDRR Act and the Climate Change Act.
Addressing poverty
Meanwhile, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio urged the ADB yesterday
to help reduce debt and assist developing nations instead of multinational
corporations.
Tinio noted that ADB's development plan for the Philippines is comprised
mostly of building and improving infrastructure for greater foreign investment
and the strengthening of public-private partnership (PPP) program.
"Contrary to what ADB is projecting, it is not in any way helping the poor.
For instance, their projects geared towards 'helping' the poor through reforms
in water and power supply system, health and education only worsened the
situation of the Filipino people with debts that do not even serve the peoples'
welfare," Tinio said in a statement.
He added the Philippines owes a total of P44.31 billion to be paid in 20
years to the ADB.
"We have been calling for the re-channeling of funds to long-term programs
such as education, health, salary increase, creation of jobs and the improvement
of our own industries," he explained.
Tinio and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino filed House Bill 1962
seeking to repeal the automatic appropriation for debt service and allotting six
percent of the Gross Domestic Product to the public education sector and basic
social services.
Obscuring poverty
Delegates attending an international conference in the Philippine capital may
not see what they came to discuss: abject poverty.
A makeshift, temporary wall has been erected across a bridge on a road from
the airport to downtown Manila that hides a sprawling slum along a
garbage-strewn creek.
Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang defended the wall's installation,
saying Thursday "any country will do a little fixing up before a guest comes."
He expressed hope that this week's ADB annual meeting, which includes finance
ministers and senior officials from 67 member states, will show the Philippines
is open for business.
"We need to show our visitors that Metro Manila is orderly. We owe it to
ourselves," Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino
said.
"I see nothing wrong with beautifying our surroundings. We are not trying to
keep the poor out of the picture," he said.
There was no immediate comment from ADB.
About a third of Manila's 12 million residents live in slums, and a third of
94 million Filipinos live below the poverty line of $1.25 a day.
Overall, more than half the population in Asia remains poor. – With Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, AP
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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