(The
Philippine Star) | Updated October 1, 2017
- 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines —
Environment group Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) is urging
for a just transition program as the government shifts toward renewable energy
amid global threats of climate change.
While CEED is backing
the recent pronouncement of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) on the need to
make key shifts in the nation’s energy policy, the group emphasized the importance
of developing a just transition program.
“A global transition to
renewable energy is happening, at any rate like Sweden, Germany, and China
where shifts from carbon-intensive energy are transpiring, but it must be made
conscientiously so as not to leave anyone behind,” CEED Research Policy and
Advocacy officer Arvin Buenaagua said.
“The nascent Philippine
just transition program, which includes the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016,
although enthusiastic in setting a landscape for a greener economy, overlooks
workers and coal-affected communities who have served as the backbone of the
fossil fuel industry and who are situated to be the backbone of this new, green
economy,” CEED legal officer Avril de Torres said.
The group cited the
growing, global movement of workers, situated in energy-shifting economies,
demanding for a just transition program, emphasizing that if the government is
serious in its shift away from the fossil fuel industry, it should heed
transition concerns of workers.
“Just transition
proponents have said this a number of times: a sustainable energy transition is
a just transition. We cannot hope to build a future ran by clean energy if we
leave behind the very people who have been powering our economy,” De Torres
said.
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