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Philippines: 3b. Bilateral - Analyze climate change solutions using your deliberative process
EnvironmentWe used our deliberative process of research, analysis, and critical thinking in order to analyze REDD+ and 'Raise a Paddle' This blog is co-authored by my fellow participant, Enrico Alba, whose blog you may have read in TIGed.
On REDD+:
REDD stands for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. We looked at two websites:
http://redd.unfccc.int/
and a microsite from the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) dedicated to REDD+ and the local sites and activities
http://forestry.denr.gov.ph/redd-plus-philippines/project-sites.php
We think that REDD+ is tackling climate change in a somewhat different way, it deals mainly with the forests and combating deforestation and the destruction of the environment in general. However, we must first differentiate REDD+ from the original REDD agreement, whereas REDD focused exclusively on avoiding deforestation and degradation, while REDD+ expanded on REDD to include forest restoration and sustainable management of forests.
While other climate change agreements and plans mostly aim to curb carbon emissions, REDD+ handles it differently by tackling the destruction of the source of our oxygen and cleanliness of the air, that being the forests, by avoiding deforestation and calling for restoration and sustainable management of forests.
REDD+ is an agreement between nations, and as such REDD+ combats deforestation by having several agreements which the signatories would adhere to:
(a) A national strategy or action plan;(b) A national forest reference emission level and/or forest reference level or, if appropriate, as an interim measure, subnational forest reference emission levels and/or forest reference levels(c) A robust and transparent national forest monitoring system for the monitoring and reporting on REDD+ activities (see below), with, if appropriate, subnational monitoring and reporting as an interim measure(d) A system for providing information on how the social and environmental safeguards (included in an appendix to the decision) are being addressed and respected throughout the implementation of REDD+
On top of that, REDD+ had outlined five activities which the signatories can do in order to reduce emissions and bolster or enhance the removal of greenhouse gases:
(a) Reducing emissions from deforestation.(b) Reducing emissions from forest degradation.(c) Conservation of forest carbon stocks.(d) Sustainable management of forests.(e) Enhancement of forest carbon stocks
With respects to other nations, our bilateral partner, Ghana, is part of REDD+ along with other countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar, and other nations that have forests, however the Philippines, though tropical as it is, is not part of REDD+
With regards to the Philippines, we’re not part of the international REDD+ but we do have our own local version of REDD+, which currently has seven project sites across the country. The Philippine REDD+ is being spearheaded by our Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) along with several notable agencies such as the Climate Change Commission, Department of Energy, Department of Science of Technology, and Ateneo De Manila University, to name a few.
Either way, on the ground, REDD+ has activities focused mainly on combating and reducing deforestation as well as projects that would help in the preservation and sustainable management of forests.
On Raise a Paddle: According to the given site this is how and why raise a paddle started. In May 2017, a group of Pacific Islanders travelled halfway across the world to visit the Canadian tar sands. Justin Trudeau’s recently approved pipelines will unleash catastrophic climate change — for Pacific islanders this means rising sea levels threatening their homes, communities, and cultures. The Pacific Climate Warriors embarked on this journey in order to bear witness to the project responsible for unleashing destruction on their homelands. Along the way, they built solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Canada whose traditional territories are threatened by tar sands. The documentary on raise a paddle, let us know that in a such small and develop country like canada, you will not think of a problem in terms of climate change specifically on fossil fuel industry. We think that just like them it is not good for the environment especially for the people who lives there. What is very alarming and shocking is the condition of the river and how it looks like, where in people rely on it in their way of living. It is the life source of the community, where people get water and where the fish lives in and it is also a source for cleanup for the most of the people. What is very sad is that it has been disrespected. It is said that over 154 oil sands development in Alberta has been approved of by the government and none has been rejected. I think the government should know when to stop and limit the usage of their resources if it is only for personal purposes because a lot of people are going to be affected. As they say in this modern world, it is not about consuming anymore, it is now the time of giving back, we need to take care and give back to the environment. It is important to know the limits of consuming the resources because we are not the only one who lives in this world, there are also others, our indigenous people, we should give them the the right of equality because as we, their lives are valuable. Climate change affects their culture, identity, sovereignty, and security, let’s give them the right to live and allow them to decide for their own, to take care of our environment, to value water and other natural resources not for ourselves, but for the people that we are going to pass it to, the future generations..
