Green economy will open new jobs and lead to higher growth–experts

THE focus of the country’s economic blueprint for the next six years should be “green” development, a team of experts has urged the government, as it prepares the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).

The suggestion was outlined in a document titled “Toward Social Protection for All, A People’s Social Protection Agenda (PSPA),” drafted by seven civil-society organizations and compiled by experts from the Center for Labor Justice and the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP Solair).

The task, the PSPA said, is to build a decent and sustainable economy based on green industry, agriculture and services while, at the same time, creating millions of jobs in renewing forests, protecting coastal resources, reviving poisoned soil, cleaning up air-and-water sources, segregating and recycling mountains of waste and, last but not the least, rebuilding damaged and vulnerable communities.

A green economy is also a solidarity economy, relying on the capacity of people to organize and create their own means to survive, prosper and assist each other through cooperatives, fair trade groups and other social enterprises, the study said.

The PSPA said this also means a green budget for green policies and programs, such as integrated watershed management, community renewal, reforestation, green-industry development and green service-sector development such as ecotourism and green transport.

Green programs and projects, the PSPA added, should also include sustainable agricultural development, such as a shift to organic farming and organic-fertilizer development, as well as the development of renewable-energy in organized communities.  

Adopting green development means abandoning a laissez-faire approach to mining development, in favor of a green approach. This approach involves a value-adding, green-regulated and community-approved mining program, the PSPA said 

“A green economy, however, is impossible to achieve without lifestyle change at individual, family and community levels. Consumption patterns have to be altered to favor and support green products and services, as well as to conserve energy and minimize waste. Earth-friendly practices need to be revived and inculcated through information and education campaigns,” the PSPA said.

Apart from creating jobs and helping in the battle against poverty, greening development is also a means to adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change. The PSPA said the country already has an environment crisis that should also be addressed.

 The Philippines only contributes a 0.3 percent share of carbon-dioxide emissions but it is the fourth-most vulnerable country in the world, based on the global climate-risk index. Coastal towns and cities are most likely to be inundated and the country will be increasingly visited by typhoons and droughts, with alternate episodes of El Niño and La Niña, if nothing is done to change the situation.

If things do not get better, the PSPA cited expert’s findings that in 50 years, the country will be unable to sustain life. Already, the groups said the country’s forest cover is almost gone since it has decreased to only 6 percent compared with 17 percent in 1998 and 70 percent in 1900. Further, the extent of coastal degradation is now severe since only one-tenth of the Philippines’ mangroves remain.  

In addition, air and water pollution is already at alarming levels. In fact, the groups said, 16 major rivers, five of which are located in Metro Manila, are already biologically dead. Many of these water systems die due to clogged waste that also causes flooding in both urban and rural areas.

“The most affected are the poor who are deprived of their livelihood, habitat and lives. Without adequate protection, the desperate poor also turn on the environment by engaging in slash-and-burn agriculture, dynamite fishing and other hazardous occupations,” the PSPA added. –Cai U. Ordinario / Reporter, Businessmirror