ABOUT 265 years ago in England, a few people — out of a world population of 1 billion then — began the Industrial Revolution that was driven by fossil fuels. That has not stopped since. This has ultimately resulted in global warming, which is having a catastrophic impact on all living things.
This is a most terrible, unforeseen consequence because hundreds of millions of people are suffering and dying from droughts, floods, typhoons, storms, crop failures, heat waves and pollution. Many animals and plants are facing extinction.
These are the concerns of young climate-justice activists today. They have alerted world leaders to this grave danger, and international agreements have been reached among nations to phase out fossil fuels and expand renewable-energy alternatives, like wind and solar power.
But this is not enough. The danger is growing and the climate crisis will soon reach a point of no return.
The biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions, including CO2 and methane, are China, the United States and some European nations. Other significant contributors include India, Russia and Japan.
In the Philippines, there were 64 existing coal-fired power plants connected to the main grid as of December 2024. San Miguel Global Power, AboitizPower, Manila Electric Co., Therma Luzon Inc., Therma South Inc. and Therma Marine Inc. all use coal and oil for electricity generation.
RE generators such as solar plants and some wind turbines are far from replacing coal and oil.
Surveys conducted worldwide show that, out of 10,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 25, a shocking 60 percent said they were very worried about the effects of climate on their future.
The United Nations has warned that more dangers lie ahead as higher temperatures are recorded. The latest forecast from the World Meteorological Organization indicates that there is an 80-percent likelihood that the world will see its annual average global temperature exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the next five years.
People are taking their stand to push and advocate for more serious action to limit CO2 and methane emissions that cause global warming. In the Philippines, there is Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (Yacap), a coalition of environmental youth organizations where young people are taking a stand.
Yacap is organizing young people to lead the global action against the climate crisis. They said: “With the Philippines ranking as one of the most vulnerable places on Earth impacted by climate change, it is imperative for us to declare a climate emergency as defined by the people and have concrete plans on addressing the current and the possible future effects of this climate crisis.”
These are just a few of the young heroes we can be proud of, and there are many thousands more doing their share in making the Philippines a safer and environmentally healthy place to live./PN
