Philippine activists decry Paris climate pact

Deal doesn't go far enough to address vulnerable countries needs, they say.

Climate activists denounce the Paris climate agreement, saying it will only aggravate climate change and intensify global warming, during a protest march on Dec. 12. (Photo: Clemente Bautista)

Manila:  The struggle for climate justice did not end in Paris after 196 nations voted to adopt an agreement curbing global warming on Dec. 13, according to environmental activists in the Philippines.

"The Paris agreement is not the climate solution nor the justice we hoped and fought for," said Rep. Neri Colmenares, senior deputy minority leader of the Philippine House of Representatives.

The emission cuts promised in the deal are "neither equitable nor even scientifically viable," the legislator said.

The Philippine government, however, welcomed the deal.

Presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma Jr. said the deal responded to the call made by the Philippines before the Paris meeting "for all people to act and come to an agreement" that will address the situation of "climate vulnerable countries" like the Philippines.

The final Paris agreement contains commitments from different countries to voluntary Intended Nationally Determined Contributions or INDCs.

Critics, however, said even if all countries honored their INDC commitments, they will fall far short of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission cuts needed to prevent global temperature rising by 2 degrees Celcius.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of the Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment, said the last chance for an agreement to address climate change "has again failed the people and future generations."

Bautista said that instead of providing solutions, the Paris meeting has "negotiated a future that is still on the path to heating the Earth from 3 to 7 degrees Celsius this century."

He said the negotiators failed to ensure legally binding, obligatory, and drastic GHG emission cuts from the top polluter countries and corporations.

"[The INDC] is a way for top polluter countries to skirt the principle of common but differentiated responsibility," Bautista said.



'Dead on Arrival'

Meanwhile, hundreds of "climate bikers and walkers" came out in solidarity with the global movement for climate justice in Manila on Dec. 14 to criticize the climate agreement in Paris.

"The climate agreement is dead on arrival," said Leon Dulce, campaign coordinator of Kalikasan.

The activists said negotiators failed to come up with a much-needed climate protocol that imposes obligated, quantified, and ambitious emissions cuts on industrialized countries and their corporations.

Dulce said the final agreement also made no mention of major issues critical for climate-vulnerable nations such as the Philippines, including agriculture, loss and damages, and human rights.

The agreement reaffirmed the US$100-billion green climate fund for the adaptation of vulnerable countries, but is way below the more than US$1 trillion estimated cost needed by these countries, he said.

Source: UCAN