CARBON DIOXIDE emissions from coal-fired power plants, the most polluting energy resource in the world, massively exacerbates rising global temperatures. In the Philippines, coal-fired power plants account for nearly half of the power generators despite a moratorium on coal projects being announced in October 2020.
To accelerate the energy transition away from coal, local groups across the archipelago have begun to lobby for further state action and more thorough collaboration between the government and the power sector.
In February 2020, Visayan Church leaders and social organizations gathered to request Philippine financial institutions to cease funding for coal plant projects. Their “Withdraw from Coal” campaign pointed out that the increasing share of coal in the country’s power mix calls for “more ambitious ways forward” from the finance sector.
At the same time, Mindanaoans await a financing mechanism to rehabilitate the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plant which will “enhance the reliability of clean energy generation in Mindanao.” Once the plant’s rehabilitation plans are final, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III expressed that his agency will order the closure of coal-fired power plants in the region. Though Luzon still struggles with housing the highest capacity of coal-fired power plants, funding from a partnership with the Asian Development Bank may aid in the region’s decarbonization.
Despite these current efforts, more must be done to save the country from climate ruin. Manila Electric Company chair Manuel V. Pangilinan emphasized that collaboration within the power sector—as well as between the power sector and the government—is crucial to decarbonizing the Philippine energy mix. The country’s recent membership in the Accelerating Coal Transition (ACT) program may aid in its next steps towards reshaping the energy market and achieving its goal of decarbonization.
Though the world will see record-high emission levels in 2023 due to the present failure to transition away from coal, the International Energy Agency (IEA) insists that the path to net-zero emissions by 2050 is “narrow but still achievable,” with enough global effort. Though the Philippines’ pledge to become a zero emissions society is crucial to global climate recovery, global commitment is equally vital to the country’s security amid a climate crisis. Flooding, sea level rising, drought, and biodiversity loss are only some of the hazards that the country faces as the nation “most at risk from the climate crisis.” Given the Philippines’ unique vulnerability to the effects of global warming, cutting coal then becomes the keystone of a national plan for survival.
