Total damage from disasters last year stood at P113.4 billion, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
NEDA Undersecretary Mercedita Sombilla said at the Sulong Pilipinas 2021: Climate Change and the New Normal with the Youth Sector online briefing yesterday, Typhoon Ulysses caused the most disruption as it affected 5.2 million people and displaced 1.5 million of them.
Citing data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Sombilla said other disasters that had significant effects last year were Typhoon Rolly that affected 3.3 million people and displaced 1.2 million; the Taal Volcano eruption that affected 847,000 and displaced 506,000; Typhoon Quinta that affected 791,000 and displaced 302,800; and the magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Masbate that affected 6,500 and displaced 1,300 people.
Sombilla said government is implementing measures that will mitigate the socio-economic effects of climate change.
NEDA said warming temperatures resulted in lower labor productivity due to heat stress, higher demand for energy and increased risk of heat-related mortality and morbidity while changes in rainfall brought drought that caused food and water shortages, floodings as well as increased cases of water related and vector- borne diseases such as dengue.
It said increasing frequency of very strong typhoons led to loss of lives, destruction of livelihood and properties, decline in local economic activity and other psychological effects.
NEDA also noted rising sea level is becoming a threat to coastal infrastructure and settlements as well as agricultural productivity.
But Sombilla said government has to mainstream disaster risk reduction and adaptation and enhance local government units’ capabilities to utilize data and information technologies to be able to roll out climate change mitigation measures effectively.
In the same event, Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said $121 billion investments are needed from 2020 to 2040 to achieve clean energy.
Fuentebella said this amount does not include system costs from other sectors in the energy sector including reliability cost, transmission and distribution requirements, energy storage solutions and other ancillary services, reserve capacity, transmission and distribution costs.
The DOE earlier said clean energy sources in the country will reach more than 66 percent of the total generation by 2040 as the government is prioritizing the issuance of the National Renewable Energy Program 2020-2040 to achieve the envisioned target of around 34,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy installations by 2040.
As of end-2020, the country’s total installed on-grid capacity was at 25,663 MW, 7,599 MW of which or 29.6 percent is from RE sources comprised of hydro, geothermal, wind, biomass and solar.
Coal remained the top power source with a share of 10,944 MW equivalent to 42.6 percent.
