AROUND a hundred fisherfolk and environmental activists held a fluvial protest against the construction of more coal-fired power plants in Cebu.
Aaron Pedrosa, secretary general of Freedom from Debt Coalition – Cebu said the goal of their protest is to drumbeat their opposition to the establishment of more coal-fired power plant in the province.
Riding in pumpboats bedecked with anti-coal streamers, the activists sailed in the seafront of the Kelco-SPC coal-fired power plant in barangay Colon, Naga City.
“The activity also underscored the fact that Cebu has a higher risk to climate change related disasters,” he added.
Cebu is home to four coal plants with one more in the pipeline according to the Phililpine Energy Plan.
Four more coal-fired plants are being proposed around the province.
“We should be looking into how we can adapt to climate change and tapping renewable energy options,” he said.
Coal, the most carbon intensive fossil fuel is the major contributor of the abnormally high accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere causing climate change.
According to the report “Getting a Grip of Climate Change in the Philippines,” published by the World Bank and released last Wednesday, as the world’s third most vulnerable country to extreme weather events and sea level rise, the Philippines is already feeling the impact of climate change.
Last May, scientists around the world have once again issued dire warnings as the concentration of carbon dioxide accumulated in the Earth’s atmosphere has reached more than 400 parts per million (PPM), way above the 350 ppm threshold for a livable planet.
Developing countries are now asking developed countries — responsible for carbon emissions — to help countries vulnerable to climate change like the Philippines to finance climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.