CEBU CITY – A Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) research says 71 percent of Filipinos believe that they would be “somewhat affected”, and 46 percent thought they would likely get harmed, injured or get ill due to climate change.
In a research study that was published on October 20, it said that, among the 17 regions of the Philippines, 70 percent of those living in the National Capital Region were the people most concerned with contracting an illness or getting harmed as an effect of climate change.
The study noted that, despite having a low level of public awareness on climate change,
most Filipinos were concerned of its effects of climate change on their health, among other potential impacts.
“Our data demonstrate that those Filipinos that are concerned about the impacts of climate change take actions to prepare for future disasters. These findings support efforts taken to raise awareness of climate change and its anticipated impacts on the Philippines,” said HHI Resilient Communities Program Director Vincenzo Bollettino.
Aside from health issues, other potential impacts reported by the respondents were loss of income at 22 percent, damage to crops at 20 percent, damage to house and property at 19 percent, and infeasibility of farming and change of livelihoods at 18 percent.
Of those living in the Davao region, 57 percent was concerned about the impact of climate change on their household income, while those living in Eastern Visayas were most concerned with the impact on farming at 40 percent, and on their houses at 41 percent, the research said.
Overall, HHI’s study has found a low level of public awareness about climate change among Filipinos. The results showed that, at the national average, most respondents or 60 percent had not heard of, and did not feel well-informed about climate change, and only 12 percent of respondents had heard a lot or felt “extremely well-informed” about it.
Bicol stood out as the region with the highest percentage of people who never heard of climate change at 38 percent, research added.
Awareness of climate change varied regionally, ranging from three percent in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Regional in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), to 24 percent in Caraga reporting high or very high knowledge.
Meanwhile perception on climate change across the country was roughly at half or 47 percent of respondents, who believed that climate change was due to both natural and human factors. Roughly a third, or 32 percent, believed climate change to be solely due to human activity, and a fifth or 20 percent believed climate change was purely due to natural processes.
Most or 42 percent agreed that the disasters they had experienced were due to climate change. However, many also disagreed, and 47percent of those living in Zamboanga Peninsula, for instance, strongly disagreed that climate change was linked to disasters, the research showed.
Respondents believed that the top consequences of climate change were: increased temperature at 46 percent, shifting of seasons at 42 percent, and heavier rains at 23 percent.
They also reported that the following changes in the environment over the past 30 years might worsen the effects of disasters: deforestation at 21 percent, increased poverty at 13 percent, poor waste disposal at 12 percent, increased population at 11 percent, and worse infrastructure at 5 percent.
The research also showed that deforestation was ranked extremely highly in certain regions, including Davao at 45 percent; Zamboanga Peninsula, 42 percent; Western Visayas, 40 percent; MIMAROPA, 32 percent; and Caraga, 36 percent. Eighteen percent of those living in Zamboanga Peninsula also highlighted mangrove degradation as a factor contributing to the intensified impact of disasters.