Economic Development Issue

          Climate change is not just about losing lives anymore. It has become an economic development issue.

          The Philippines is highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change, which increase the frequency and intensity of heat-waves, floods, droughts, typhoons; alter agricultural and coastal and marine ecosystem output and productivity; reduce water availability and quality; and increase the incidence of climate-sensitive infectious diseases. The poor are especially at risk from these impacts. Many live in naturally hazard prone areas and are dependent of natural resources for their livelihoods.  

          The main expected impacts of climate change will come as a result of climate variability due to changes in precipitation, increase in temperature and sea level rise.  In terms of sector impacts, some of these include changes in agricultural yields for crops such as rice and maize. Changes in land use, as a consequence, of changes in rainfall pattern which will push people to migrate to higher elevations where soil is less fertile causing the rate of conversion of forest to agricultural lands to increase increasing greenhouse emissions. Coastal area resources (such as mangroves) and communities will be affected by sea level rises. Similarly, water resource availability is impacted by dramatic El Niño events, and infectious diseases may appear with more frequency. From the perspective of greenhouse emissions the Philippines is a minor emitter. However, emissions have been on the rise from both energy-use and land-use changes, with the latter as the major GHG contributor. 

          We have been warned as early as a decade ago that things will change and a lot of people won't admit its climate change but things are changing.