Manila, other megacities play key role in climate change mitigation – Paje

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Megacities like Metro Manila play a pivotal role in how the world can mitigate and adapt to climate change, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said on Tuesday, Earth Day.

In a statement, Paje, who is out of the country to attend an international conference, said population centers have a crucial role in mitigating climate change particularly “because the causes of climate change have been identified to be more anthropogenic or manmade, than natural.”

“Today, Metro Manila is one of the world’s 24 megacities, or urban centers with a population of more than 10 million people each,” he said.

“Metro Manila’s population is projected to reach 12.22 million by 2015 and 13.79 million by 2040.

“These population projections should guide us as we fine-tune strategies in mitigating and adapting to climate change,” Paje said.

“If megacities are able to significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, “we can slow down or possibly even reverse global warming and its cataclysmic impacts,” Paje added. “This will challenge cities and their people to make buildings more efficient, to conserve energy produced from fossil fuels, to make greater use of clean and renewable sources of energy, and to further popularize the use of mass transit in lieu of personal motor vehicles.”

But Paje said the focus on megacities should not be at the expense of the countryside, the sources of fresh water and food.

“The countryside is home to most of our biodiversity and the forests that help absorb excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The sustainability of our country’s development will depend greatly on the environmental health and productivity of the countryside, of which we shall continue to be protective,” he said.

Paje said most of the cities in the Philippines are in low-lying coastal areas and floodplains, and thus, are vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, such as flash floods, storm surges and rising sea levels.

“They have a major and urgent stake, therefore, in taming climate change,” he said.

Paje is attending the Global Action Summit for Food and Security in The Hague, the  Netherlands, on April 22-25, according to the DENR.