THERE’S a new tropical storm threatening the country, “Inday”, although it is not likely to directly affect local weather conditions. One thing is sure though. It is strong just like last week’s “Gardo” that grazed the northernmost part of the country.
Tropical storms are getting stronger – and more devastating when they make a landfall. This is due to climate change. What we have to realize today is that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is not the only threat we face. Climate change is a much bigger threat that has already taken so much away from us. And it will continue to do so – killing our people, destroying our environment and bringing our cities and communities into ruin if we allow it to maintain its present trajectory.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessed that “observed climatic changes are unprecedented”. Temperatures are higher than what has been in the last 125,000 years. Some devastating effects of climate change are irreversible. Every home washed away by rampaging floodwaters, every forest goes up in smoke due to ever drier and ever hotter conditions, lives lost – these are all part of the inventory of sufferings due to the world’s warming by 1.1 degrees Celsius.
Addressing climate change issues requires long-term thinking and planning, along with drastic and urgent action for transformation. All stakeholders must recognize the relevance of research and development while fusing scientific knowledge, innovation, and policymaking. Through science, cities will be planned better, farmers and fisherfolk will be more adequately supported, people will live in a healthier and safer environment, and the country’s economic growth will be inclusive.
The only way forward is to heed the science and make decisive actions toward staging a recovery that will pave the way for a better life for the Filipino people — one that will ensure a healthier, greener, and safer future for generations that will come after us.
In responding to the health, climate, and environmental crisis, our actions should not restore the vulnerabilities we had before, more so, engender new risks. We must rebuild our communities to become ever more adaptive and resilient to climate change and disasters.
