2 February 2010

Climate activists hit Philippine government’s continued support to Copenhagen Accord

The Philippine Climate Watch Alliance (PCWA), a national multisectoral alliance of individuals and organizations engaged in climate change advocacy, hit the Philippine governemnt for continuing support to the Copenhagen Accord despite criticisms and warnings from other developing nations and civil-society organizations.

The Copenhagen Accord was primarily lobbied by the US President Barrack Obama on the eve of the summit of the UN climate talks in Denmark last December which he discussed with only a handful of heads of states, including the BASIC nations (Brazil, South Africa, India and China). The Conference of the Parties (COP) which is tasked to come up with a new international climate agreement has only taken note of the said document while many developing nations rejected the accord and  criticised it for it's low targets and for being non-binding and undemocratic.

The Philippines, however, was one of the countries to support the accord in previous pronouncements and through a letter dated January 26, 2009, sent by Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez, Executive Director of Philippine Climate Change Commission to Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat.

"The Copenhagen Accord is a weak and spurious agreement which impedes countries and people of the world to come up with genuine climate agreements and solutions. For one, the accord only targets a very risky 2 degrees Celsius limit to global temperature rise. It also does not legally bind big polluting countries like the United States to reduce their carbon emissions," explained Clemente Bautista, one of the convenors of PCWA.

Recent scientific studies show that the world needs to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid catastrophic effects of climate change, while it is said that industrialized countries need to reduce their global carbon emission by at least 40% of 1990 level by 2020 to limit global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius.

Bautista pointed out that, "While it was the US, the world's largest polluter and carbon emitter, who primarily formulated and promoted the Accord, it only commits to reduce its carbon pollution by only a mere 4-5% by 2020 compared to the 1990 level. This target is too low and only shows its insincerity to mitigating this climate crisis."

According to PCWA, while the main polluters are not bound to reduce their emissions, the accord also favors the big corporations and international private banks by the introduction of profit-oriented and market-based solutions to climate change.

"One such mechanism is the REDD Plus or reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation which will put the protection and management of our forests resources to the hands of big corporations, including the logging and mining companies. These private companies will be given financial assistance and rewards for supposedly 'conserving' in the developing countries," explained Bautista.

Bautista furthered that instead of punishing the large corporations and those who are mainly responsible for the global environmental crisis, the accord even strengthens the control of the corporations and wealthy nations to the resources of the developing nations, as what will happen with the REDD Plus mechanism.

"The Philippines' support to the Accord is pure puppetry to the US. By associating and supporting the agreement, our government is confirming that it is more willing to follow the dictates of the US than assert the interest and welfare of our nation," said Bautista.