PH vows 75% cut in emissions by 2030

By Jhesset O. Enano, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 19 Apr 2021

The Philippines has vowed to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent by 2030, but it will rely on foreign aid and resources to reach the lion’s share of its commitment, according to the country’s first-ever submission of its mitigation plans to the United Nations.

Out of the 75 percent target, only 2.71 percent will be achieved “unconditionally,” or through policies and measures implemented using domestic resources. The rest, or 72.79 percent, will depend on resources from the international community.

The Philippines submitted a five-page document, known as nationally determined contribution (NDC), to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on April 15.

Its commitment is referenced against projected “business-as-usual” emissions of 3,340.3 metric tons of carbon dioxide, from this year up to 2030. The emissions will be slashed from identified carbon-intensive sectors, namely agriculture, wastes, industry, transport and energy.

“The implementation of the mitigation commitments shall be undertaken through bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation,” the document read.

Last submissions

The Philippines is among the last countries that signed the Paris Agreement on Dec. 12, 2015, to submit its first NDC, a tool to communicate each country’s actions on climate mitigation and adaptation. So far, 192 have submitted their first commitments, and eight, their second NDCs.

The Philippines’ first NDC submission comes close to its initial pledge when the historic climate deal was signed to reduce gas emissions by 70 percent by 2030. That goal, however, was entirely dependent on foreign aid, mainly from industrialized countries that are considered to be historically responsible for the climate crisis.

The final submission was also considered more ambitious than the draft text presented by the Climate Change Commission (CCC) in December last year, which proposed a 30-percent reduction by 2040.

While some climate groups welcomed the country’s first NDC commitment, others scored the continuous lack of ambition from regulators of more carbon-intensive sectors, such as the Department of Energy (DOE).

“The DOE’s next moves will be crucial in meeting the targets under the Paris Agreement,” said Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Khevin Yu. “The DOE has only committed a paltry 2.8 percent reduction and avoidance target from 2020 to 2030, and 12.3 percent from 2020 to 2040.”

“Following the administration’s pronouncements to fast-track renewable energy and for a moratorium on new coal proposals, the energy department should be doing much more to put their words into action,” Yu said.

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities urged the DOE to update its pledge to improve on the Philippine Energy Plan.

“The challenge now is to see the NDC process as a means by which the modernization of the electricity sector is realized, driven by genuine competition and premised on greater reliance on flexible generation,” said Rex Barrer, the group’s climate governance head.

Exclusion of forests

During the final public consultation in February, environment groups criticized the removal of forests from the sectors which will be part of the country’s climate mitigation efforts.

But the basis for this exclusion is that the Philippines is still considering its forests as a carbon sink, said Albert Magalang, chief of the Climate Change Division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“It has carbon sequestration capability at the present,” he said during the consultation. “We cannot add it to the mitigation potential because there is nothing to mitigate … It’s not really contributing to the problem of emission.”

While it is not listed among the sectors that will slash its emissions, the CCC said forests were included in the country’s adaptation measures to climate change, with forest protection and restoration, and reforestation listed as goals in the NDC. INQ