‘…like most advocacies, you have climate Justice advocates who just — at least in my book — go way off the rails, justifying their positions by their passion and zeal for their cause.’
I ADMIRE activists. Many of them passionately advocate a cause (diversity, climate change, racial inequality, women’s rights, even animal rights) at their own personal and physical expense. Some of them, in the process of their advocacy, get hurt, even killed. Some of them get disillusioned. But many of them remain committed to varying degrees to the idea and value of activism, to their dying day.
I’ve met so many of these kinds of people throughout my life, which is not surprising given that I grew up and was schooled at UP where every second an activist is born (and every minute one turns into a trapo!). So, I’ve seen them all — the real ones, the fake ones, the ideologues, the “nakikisakay lang sa uso.”
You know who to admire even if you don’t necessarily agree with them in full, and you know who to dismiss, even at least privately.
Now comes climate Justice advocates who again are admirable for their commitment to the cause of healing our planet. They’re at the forefront of the focus on global warming and climate change, real reasons for concern. But again, like most advocacies, you have climate Justice advocates who just — at least in my book — go way off the rails, justifying their positions by their passion and zeal for their cause.
As someone who works in the mining industry (which I think is more pejoratively described as the “extractive” industry), I’ve seen the gamut of climate Justice activism, and have to say that a lot of objectivity needs to be plugged into the cause.
Like those advocating that mining in the Philippines has to stop because it contributes to the climate change problem that in turn results in Yolandas and Odettes and other super typhoons in whose path our islands lie.
Huh?
In my simple understanding, climate change is a result of the greenhouse gas emissions that human existence has been producing for decades now. Hence the struggle to get to Net Zero by 2050.
GHG global production is centered around China (about 25%), the US (an additional 15%) which together with the EU and India add up to over 50% of global GHG production. The Philippines contributes 0.05% or one-half of one percent to total global annual GHG production.
If you totally stop GHG production from the Philippines, will the Yolandas stop coming?
But okay, let’s say let’s stop GHG production in the Philippines anyway. Who produces it?
Well, power plants contribute 50%. Transport, another 25%. Industry and agriculture, another 15-20%. You want to shut down GHG emissions in the Philippines? Let’s close down all power plants and mothball all ICE vehicles.
The point is, climate Justice advocates should focus their targets on China, the US, India, and the EU if they want the Yolandas and Odettes of this world to stop lashing the Philippines. And if they still insist on drastically reducing our 0.05% contribution, they should lobby for an ICE-free country (bye-bye jeepneys and tricycles, among others, that the common man uses!) and shut down 80% of our power supply. But do they do this?
No. Instead, they harp on mining… their favorite whipping boy.
Which makes you wonder — how honest is their advocacy for climate Justice?
