THE WORLD IS in big trouble. And I mean not from wranglings between citizenry and government, and between nations. Where hot debates can kill hopes just as bombs can. And promises do not bring emergency necessities like food, medicine, and jobs, pronto, to ease daily struggles.
Though still some 25 years from now, our planet Earth, may have a system collapse. It can and will just happen, without having to single out which superpower can blow away one planet, and humanity, to smithereens. We all can bring it about.
Maybe I am dramatizing, but the climate change clock is ticking and catastrophic impacts are fast coming to view – ocean waters rising, tsunamis and massive floodings, drying of agricultural fields, devastation of forests and mountains with their biodiversity, famines and hunger, loss of lives. What can be worse?
‘We have 25 years more before the roofs come down on our common home but each day brings us close to it. Unless we choose to overcome. Reducing our carbon footprints is one big way.’
ZERO EMISSIONS
Since 2015, the United Nations has been accelerating discussions and cooperative actions among governments and other key sectors worldwide to address the climate threat determined in the early 70s.
The Philippines has committed to help achieve the targeted net zero emissions of greenhouse gases (the main cause) by 2050 and to keep the rise in earth temperature within the 1.5 degree centigrade limit set by climate scientists.
Among several mitigation measures, key strategy identified was reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These gases include mainly carbon dioxide and also methane and others which are emitted from human activities mainly the burning of fossil fuels and also during agricultural, industrial, commercial, household, and individual activities.
A civil society-led movement in the country called Ako ang Bukas (AAB) thus started shaping up in 2020 to promote taking a quantum leap to climate neutrality by 2050, in collaboration with the government’s Climate Change Commission.
AAB convenor Dr. Angelina P. Galang has said the situation is an emergency thus calling for urgent actions. Then, she got Green Convergence for safe food, healthy environment and sustainable economy, a coalition of environment-caring groups and individuals she co-founded back in 2007, to spearhead the advocacy.
REDUCING CARBON FOOTPRINT
Carbon footprint refers to the greenhouse gas or carbon emissions produced by our daily activities. Lower is better. In a simple illustration in transport use, taking a public vehicle as an option to driving a long distance alone can reduce fossil fuel consumption, and thus, GHG emission which translates to one’s own carbon footprint.
Reducing carbon footprint is a goal of AAB with the Greenhouse Gas Calculator (GHG Calculator) at the heart of its campaign. It is a vital tool for entities, households, and individuals to track their carbon footprints to help them come up with effective ways to better manage their greenhouse gas emissions.
Activities that generate GHGs are inputted to the calculator – electricity use, transport fuel, and waste generated – and the tool calculates the carbon footprint. One’s carbon footprint will be graphically presented side-by-side the average carbon footprint of a Filipino. (Note: The GHG Calculator is not a physical gadget but a chart in the web.)
The AAB GHG Calculator – one for entities and another for households – has been/and is being shared with Local Government Units, businesses, schools and other interested entities. It can also be accessed through this link: aab-household-ghg-web.app, for households; and on request by entities, through greenconvergencephil.com. To know more and be part of the movement, look up this link: bit.ly/AKOANGBUKAS.
We have 25 years more before the roofs come down on our common home but each day brings us close to it. Unless we choose to overcome. Reducing our carbon footprints is one big way.