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Roberto Cadiz, former commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights, hopes that the public will consider climate change when they vote on 9 May
MANILA, Philippines – For former Commission on Human Rights (CHR) commissioner Roberto Cadiz, Filipino voters must consider the issue of climate change when they vote on Monday, May 9.
The CHR on Friday, May 6, released a landmark report that said climate change has negatively impacted Filipinos’ right to life and should be treated as a human rights issue.
The report’s release comes a day after Cadiz, who led CHR’s four-year climate change inquiry, His term was over, and three more days before the 2022 Philippine presidential election.
The report, while non-binding in nature, made strong recommendations for the government. It recommended that the government abandon fossil fuel and coal dependency and instead embrace renewable energy.
Such huge steps would require a “green” candidate determined to integrate climate mitigation into his or her development plans for the country.
‘Unpopular’ voting issue
Cadiz however admitted in a Friday press briefing that climate change was still an unpopular topic despite the fact that the country is constantly under threat from strong typhoons.
CHR hopes that the release of this report will normalize discussion around climate change, just like other basic sectoral topics discussed during elections.
“It’s about time for them to consider climate change in determining [their candidates],” Cadiz said.
The climate crisis is not mentioned in the highly publicized vice presidential and presidential debates for 2022.
The spotlight was only on the topic during the Commission on Elections’ second presidential debateLast April, however due to the debate format not all candidates were able share their stances on key topics such as accessing clean water and transitioning to clean energy.
Why it matters
The election of heads affects the country’s priority for climate mitigation.
As an example, Cadiz referred to the United States’ WithdrawalDonald Trump’s Paris Agreement. ReturnJoe Biden was first elected.
Even the implementation of the CHR’s recommendations in its climate change report would rely on the next president’s resolve to see the ongoing crisis as a violation of human rights.
Climate change is a global issue, so it is important that world leaders deliver on climate promises, especially at the international level. Climate change requires a lot of political will from all leaders. – Rappler.com
