Put environmental issues at the heart of platform, politicians urged

Various environmental groups have urged politicians to place socio-environment issues at the heart of their political platform in the May 2016 national elections.

On Friday, the “Green Thumb Coalition,” composed of environmentalists and grassroot organizations, was launched  at Balay Kalinaw at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

The coalition will conduct nationwide fora to educate the electorate on major environmental issues and to engage politicians to act on these issues.

The campaign is committed to work on the following issues such as biodiversity and ecosystem integrity; natural resource and land use management and governance; human rights and integrity of creation; climate justice; mining, extractives and mineral resource management; energy transformation and democracy; sustainable food sovereignty; people-centered sustainable development; and waste.

READ: Environmental advocates launch drive for ‘Green Vote’

Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Naderev Saño said the Philippines’ next leaders should support policies and legislation on protecting the environment.

Saño said the next President should “support legislation and policies that would make ecological agriculture practices mandatory to protect small farmer’s interests, our biodiversity and the environment, and ensure safe food for Filipinos.”

“Greenpeace laments the failure of these candidates to show the electorate that they stand up for the environment,” he said.

He said protecting the environment “directly translates” to social and economic benefits.

READ: PH’s Yeb Saño appointed as Greenpeace Southeast Asia head

“Protecting the environment directly translates to social and economic benefits for the nation as a whole, for communities, and for each Filipino, now and for many generations,” he said.

The coalition is composed of: ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, Inc. (ALKFI), Aksyon Klima, Alternative Law Groups (ALG), Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), AMEN, Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP-JPIC), Bantay Kalikasan Foundation (BK), Bantay Kita, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Bulig Visayas, CBCP-NASSA, Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED), Climate Reality, Dakila, Ecological Justice Interfaith Movement (ECOJIM), Ecowaste Coalition, FOCUS, Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE), Foundation for a Sustainable Society Inc. (FSSI), Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), Global Anti Incinerator Alliance (GAIA), Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM), Green Convergence, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Haribon, Oceana, PADER, Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK), Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), Prelate of Infanta Community, Pugad Lawin Pilipinas Inc. (PLPI), Purple Action for Women’s Rights (Lilak), Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), Sanlakas, Save Sierra Madre, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Youth for Rights (Y4R) and 350.org. CDG