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Philippines needs to tap more renewable resources: official

Xinhua, April 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Philippines needs to review its energy policy to step away from the use of coal and tap more renewable resources to meet the country's power supply requirements, a senior government official said on Monday.

Climate Change Commission Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman said that updating the country's roadmap to massively favor clean resources will allow the Philippines to be at the forefront of this aggressive and massive trend to investment and transition from fossil to renewable energy.

"This allows the Philippines to not only contribute to global efforts to combat climate change, but reduce growing economic and financial risks associated with carbon-intensive energy sources, such as coal,"he said.

The year 2015 marked the unprecedented growth of renewable energy globally. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more than 90 percent of new electricity generated last year came from renewable energy sources, with investments reaching a record-breaking 328.9 billion U.S. dollars.

On the other hand, coal, the most carbon-intensive among fossil fuels, is starting to be seen as a risky long-term investment.

"We must seize the opportunity now. A decisive transition to clean energy is good for the climate and makes financial and economic sense,"de Guzman said.

"It is now imperative for our country to adjust energy models with the global trend in renewable energy use in mind in order to come up with roadmaps with definitive actions for the power sector, and eventually for the transport industry and other key sectors."

In October 2015, the Philippines submitted to the United Nations (UN) its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), which is the country's contribution to global efforts to fight and adapt to climate change, to reduce by 2030 its carbon emissions by 70 percent, compared to business as usual.

The roadmap should also take into consideration the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal for global temperature of the Paris Agreement, De Guzman added. Endit