Federation of Philippine Industries wants voluntary compliance with Kyoto Protocol

MANILA, Philippines – The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) is urging for   the country’s voluntary compliance with the Kyoto Protocol.

In a telephone interview, FPI president Jesus L. Arranza said that adopting a mandatory compliance with the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol would lessen the country’s competitiveness because it would make some operations more expensive.

The Wikipedia described the Kyoto Protocol as a treaty  intended to achieve “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”

“This is not the time. I am appealing to the Senate to reconsider their plan of approving the Kyoto Protocol,” Arranza said.

According to Arranza, there are big economies who are not enacting the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol because it might interfere with business operations. He said that the Philippines is undergoing major challenges in the business front and it would be unwise to make changes especially now that the economic environment is not very stable.

Late last year, the Senate signed a resolution which stated that the Philippines will be a party of the Kyoto Protocol upon the ratification of the Senate.

An oversight committee on climate change was created to monitor and oversee the country’s compliance to its commitments with regards to global warming. The resolution said that  due to its archipelagic nature and its location within the Pacific typhoon belt, the Philippines is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, sea level rise and extreme events.

Congress has already enacted the Clean Air Act and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act in compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and oversight committees were created pursuant to these laws.

The Senate said that the agenda for implementing the Kyoto Protocol has shifted from straightforward reduction of discharge of greenhouse gases to increasing the capacity of state parties to comply with their treaty obligation of meeting their emission reduction targets.

Likewise, the Senate said that the Clean Development Mechanism is mutually beneficial for developed and developing countries —- enabling the former to meet their emission reduction targets while allowing the latter to profit through the sale of certified emission reduction (CERs) to the former. –Ma. Elisa P. Osorio, Philippine Star