Climate change in the Philippines
Climate change is having serious impacts in the Philippines such as increased frequency and severity of natural disasters, sea level rise, extreme rainfall, resource shortages, and environmental degradation.
The United Nations estimated that Typhoon Odette impacted the livelihoods of 13 million people, destroying their homes and leaving them without adequate food or water supplies.
[3] Compounding these issues, the impacts of climate change, such as accelerated sea level rise, exacerbate the state's high susceptibility to natural disasters, like flooding and landslides.
"[6] Since low-income countries have a history of colonialism and resource exploitation, their environment lacks the diversity necessary to prevail against natural disasters.
[7] A lack of biodiversity reduces the resilience of a specific region, leaving them more susceptible to natural disasters and the effects of climate change.
With its history of Spanish colonization, the Philippines is not environmentally nor economically equipped to overcome issues it is currently dealing with, such as natural disasters and climate change.
[23] The category 5 typhoon continued to travel west, making landfall in several municipalities, and ultimately devastated enormous stretches of the Philippines islands of Samar, Leyte, Cebu, and the Visayan archipelago.
[24] The typhoon caused significant damage to some agricultural areas farmed by the Suludnon indigenous people in the Jayubo village of Lambunao, Iloilo.
Rising sea levels cause increased salinity that can have damaging impacts on the country's extensive system of mangroves.
[1] Coral reefs and mangroves also act as important feeding and spawning areas for many fish species that many fisherfolk depend on for survival.
[22] Over 60% of the coastal population depends on marine resources such as coral reefs or mangroves for their contributions to fisheries, tourism, and storm protection.
[28] Combined with sea level rise, this stratification into more extreme seasons and climates increases the frequency and severity of storm surge, floods, landslides, and droughts.
[29] The two most important crops, rice and corn, account for 67% of the land under cultivation and stand to see reduced yields from heat and water stress.
[1] All of these factors contribute to higher prices of food and an increased demand for imports, which hurt the general economy as well as individual livelihoods.
[29] The increased rainfall during the wet season in the Philippines is proven to be harmful to agriculture as it leads to flooding and water logging.
[29] Climate change is expected to amplify the seasonal variation of rainfall in the Philippines and exacerbate ongoing civil conflict in the country.
With beliefs that only through the private sector will palm oil industries sustain growth, the Philippine Coconut Authority aggressively promotes expansion through large scale investors with the support of local government units in Bohol, Maguindanao, Cotabato and other locations.
[35] In the case of extreme weather events, such as Typhoon Haiyan, corporations that would like previously inhabited land will offer support to those impacted by the storm.
Often these offers are intended to waive current land rights and re-home people to make room for more business development, such was the case for Ayala Corporation, who litigated inhabitants and removed them from the premises.
[31] Some of the problems caused by extreme climate events in agrarian areas that are prone to civil conflict that disproportionately affect women include loss of customary rights to land, forced migration, increased discrimination, resource poverty and food insecurity.
[31] The effect that the combination of severe climate events and civil conflict has on Filipino women is further exacerbated by discriminatory policies, belief and practices, and restricted access to resources.
Men are also more likely to work in outdoor jobs such as construction, for which more frequent heat waves could lead to higher rates of heat-related illnesses.
Increased mortality among married men would simultaneously widow their wives and leaves them on their own to take care of their children, even when the society and government make it difficult for single mothers to succeed.
[31] Women are often relegated to be the caretakers of children, which increases the burden and stress placed on them as well as inhibiting them from escaping from conflict ridden areas.
[31] Rising sea levels, heavy rainfall and flooding, and strong typhoons pose an enormous risk to the Philippines' infrastructure.
A giant storm would wreak havoc on these informal settlements and cause the deaths and displacement of millions of people who inhabit 25 different coastline cities.
About 25% of coastal municipalities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are affected by this and the issue is expected to get worse with sea level rise.
Four million people, or about a third of Manila's population, live in informal settlements that put them at higher risk and danger from tropical storms and flooding, and they often have fewer resources available to recover from damage caused by environmental hazards.
[1] Increased natural disasters not only directly contribute to the loss of human life, but also indirectly through food insecurity and the destruction of health services.
[48] On March 11, 2024, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Toni Yulo-Loyzaga and the European Union launched the €60 million (P3.67 billion) "Green Economy Programme for the Philippines" in the form of a grant from 2023 to 2028 to mitigate environmental degradation and combat climate change to foster economic growth and social inclusivity.
