THIS week, leaders from the Group of Seven started their four working sessions over two days in Turin, Italy, the first political session since the world pledged to transition away from coal, oil and gas.
The pledge was made through the UN’s COP28 climate summit in December, and now the G7 ministers are meeting for environment and climate change talks, with experts urging highly industrialized economies to use their political clout, wealth and technologies to end fossil fuel use.
The two-day meeting which ends today, with hundreds of protesters protesting outside the conference venue and accusing G7 leaders of failing future generations over the climate crisis, follows a new report by a global climate institute which shows the G7 is falling far short of its targets.
Which brings us back home, where the Philippines remains one of the fastest-growing developing countries where poverty is in decline but access to energy is rising and, with that, demand for energy services.
Fossil fuels still dominate the energy system, accounting for 78 percent of power generation in 2022.
The Philippines’ current energy mix highly favors fossil fuels, with coal, natural gas, and oil, primarily due to their low cost.
One study has suggested the Philippines, on the global warming frontline, must urgently phase out coal-fired power by 2035, and almost entirely phase out gas-fired generation by 2040.
The same finds this is not only feasible but will benefit the economy and provide more than a million jobs by 2050.
The Philippines’ power sector is not yet aligned with the country’s current emission reduction targets, let alone with 1.5˚C, so the government needs to strengthen those targets and align them with a 1.5˚C compatible emissions pathway.
This means a well-defined plan for an expedited coal phase-out and expanding renewable energy to 99 percent coverage by 2050, with experts suggesting the government must make this a top priority in its climate and energy policy.
The draft Philippines Energy Plan 2023-2050 sees a growth in renewables, but a substantially lower share in 2050 (at 63 percent-72 percent under different scenarios) than the near-100 percent renewables system needed to meet a Paris Agreement-compatible emissions pathway for the power sector.
We are glad the Philippine government, in earnest attempts to help reduce global climate change, has committed to limiting the future growth of greenhouse gas emissions by implementing alternative policy options, like carbon taxes, improvement of energy efficiency in both generation and consumption, diversification of the energy supply-mix, and accelerated development of renewable energy.
The country intends to reduce emissions by about 70 percent from different sectors, like energy, transport, waste, forestry, and industry, by 2030, compared to the business-as-usual scenario of emission levels between 2000 and 2030.