Another local pro-climate action group has underscored the urgency of the message being conveyed by the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC.
“The science is clear: there is no time to lose for climate action,” said Jon Bonifacio, education coordinator of Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP), in a statement Wednesday, Aug. 11.
“Every second that national and world leaders fail to take the necessary steps to address the climate crisis, they are actively choosing to condemn my generation, and future generations, to what could be an unlivable planet," Bonifacio noted.
Released only last Aug. 9, the IPCC report bared that the planet is at its warmest state in at least 125,000 years, and unprecedented warming rates have been consistently occurring over the past decades.
The effects of this extreme warming are seen more frequently through intensified heatwaves, droughts, and typhoons. These changes are linked to high levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and human activities are, without a doubt, behind this, according to the report.
The Power for People Coalition (P4P) aired similar concerns on Tuesday, saying that the report "affirms something climate-vulnerable Filipinos already know: that the climate crisis is upon us".
YACAP said the Philippines is at high risk for aggravated effects of climate change, being one of the most affected countries on the planet.
"Record-breaking high temperatures and neck-high floods are becoming regular occurrences in the Philippines. And yet, according to climate and environment groups, the Duterte administration has been consistent in its lack of efforts to adapt to climate change," it said.
"The latest IPCC report is something many Filipino climate activists may already be expecting, but what's shocking is that even if the Philippines is one of the most affected by the climate crisis, our leaders only talk about it. There is actually little action done to address the issue," said Xian Guevarra, national coordinator of YACAP.
The report calls for rapid emissions reductions within the next decade to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius. With the upcoming United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP) in Glasgow this year, activists believe this is a key moment for global climate action, YACAP said.
Click here to read more about the Philippines' commitment to the Paris Agreement.