I cherish memories of summers from my youth. Back then, school was out, and many people flocked to the beach or engaged in outdoor activities under the warm afternoon sun.  But such is not the case anymore. 

On April 12, the Department of Education (DepEd) recorded that more than 7,000 schools in different parts of the Philippines had suspended in-person classes and shifted to alternative delivery modes due to the threat of scorching weather.  This is a worrying concern because before, class suspensions were mostly due to inclement weather brought by typhoons, storms, and rains. Even before, heavy rain was not a sufficient cause to suspend classes. This trend will continue to worsen throughout the years if we do not aggressively address and mitigate the impacts of climate change as a matter of national policy. 

According to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the Philippines is poised to become an upper-middle-income country by 2025 due to higher economic growth, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), and slow population increase. However, multiple indices rank the Philippines as one of the most affected by extreme climate events. The effects of these climate events are sure to hamper the transition to an upper-middle-income country. In fact, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said that the extreme heat has slowed the country’s economic growth. With every increase in temperature, the Philippines sees a small yet significant drop in the economy’s overall growth. According to the World Bank’s Country Climate and Development Report 2022, without climate action, economic damages in the Philippines could reach up to 7.6 percent of GDP by 2030 and 13.6 percent by 2040. This necessitates urgency on the part of the Philippine government and its instrumentalities, alongside other stakeholders, such as the private sector and the academe, to work together to curb the negative effects of climate change. Therefore, climate action discussions must dominate and be important in policy spaces.

In various policymaking levels, particularly in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), there must be a concerted effort to triple the efforts to localize and contextualize climate change mitigation and environmental protection. The discussions on the economy, safety, human rights, education, health, and other

relevant sectors must be intertwined and discussed together with climate change and environmental protection. The example of the suspension of classes due to extreme heat is just one of many interconnected issues or manifestations of a more significant problem or issue related to climate change. We call on our governments, especially those involved in climate change mitigation and environmental protection, to step up in steering the discussion and decisions and ensuring that we co-create a future with the planet in mind. Gone are the days when departments or offices related to climate action were invited for tokenistic gestures. At this point, they should have the most significant voices in investment planning and project implementation. At the SK level, we call on our youth public servants to think of new innovative programs to mainstream awareness and genuine action to address the effects of climate change at the youth level. After all, the youth will inherit this planet, and action should be taken to reverse the dated mindset of taking advantage of the earth for personal benefit. 

In the same vein, we should ensure that our environmental and climate action policies do not remain on the websites or printed in brochures, gathering dust in the cabinets of offices. The Climate Action Tracker rates the Philippines’ climate targets and policies as “Insufficient,” indicating the need for substantial improvements to align with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C temperature limit. The Philippines has considerably sound climate change and environmental protection policies, such as the Climate Change Act of 2009, the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, and the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004. The question, therefore, is whether these laws are stringently implemented and whether legislators allot the required budget for their implementation. As such, we call on our local and national governments to ensure that these laws are faithfully implemented and given the necessary budget, as well as monitor and evaluate them to reach the Paris Agreement requirements and attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

As we mark Earth Day, we hope that our call and action do not remain “the same,” for the earth is changing at a rate that requires our actions to be more responsive and innovative. The Lab stands ready to empower our youth to champion climate action, innovate solutions, and cultivate a resilient and proactive generation of Filipinos. Let’s make every day Earth Day and lead the charge for a sustainable future.

Together, let’s keep the change!