BY LOUISE VINCENT B. AMANTE

The Arctic and Antarctic regions slowly disappearing. Melting glaciers in the Northern hemisphere. At least 15 destructive hurricanes and typhoons every year. Floods and droughts. Alarming death tolls.

These catastrophes are said to be indications of global warming.

Apocalypse Now

Late last year, former United States (US) Vice President Al Gore sounded the alarm on the global warming issue in his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. “We’re already seeing changes... The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable,” he declared.

Greenhouse gases (GHG) like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) contribute to atmospheric warming. These gases trap the sun’s heat to keep the earth warm through the atmosphere’s heat-trapping capacity, resulting in what is popularly called the “greenhouse effect.” Although atmospheric warming is necessary to nourish life on earth, high concentrations of these gases may trap all the sun’s heat and lead to overheating, also known as global warming.

The results of global warming can be devastating. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported last February that the earth is heating up rapidly. Climate change during the past years has been alarming, as the global mean temperature increased to about 0.74 degrees celsius from 1906 to 2005. If global warming is not addressed soon, the IPCC report warns of difficult times ahead: severe drought shall occur in many nations and infectious diseases will emerge and resurge, like the Ebola and avian viruses. Numerous heat waves, storms, and flash floods will occur in every part of the globe.

Scientists have exposed this phenomenon since the 1950s. The IPCC report cites human activities as one of the major causes of global warming. Heating water, traveling by automobiles, and spraying chemicals emit CO2 and CH4. “We have the ability to do this (saving the earth)” says Gore in his film.” Environmentalist groups echo the same statement, as their campaigns promote individual awareness and actions in confronting the global warming phenomenon. For instance, groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth promote the “reduce, reuse, recycle” campaign for non-biodegradable products to minimize waste. They are also against the use of wood, plastic, and styrofoam because these also emit CO2.

Beyond Ethics

Gore resolutely states in his documentary that global warming is an issue that will bind all nations, for “[This] is not a political issue,” but is an “ethical” issue. Indeed, global warming and other environmental issues have often been viewed as non-political and non-economic issues. Factors such as uneven development and government policies are supposed to be set aside so that all nations can come together to save the planet. This non-political/non-economic environmentalism is what Gore and many environmental groups invoke when the emphasis is placed on individual efforts to help save the environment, instead of broader political participation and resistance to environmentally damaging government policies.

Although it is true that human activities contribute to global warming, further study reveals that it is caused primarily by the political and economic interests of developed and industrialized nations. In fact, the dramatic change in the earth’s climate came about in the last century of rapid industrialization in Western countries. Scientific studies indicate that the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial activities have led to a build-up of GHG in the atmosphere. In fact, the United States (US) admits to having the highest carbon emission levels among all developed countries since 1990. Ranking second and third as the largest emitters of GHG are China and India, which also house several US-based companies.

The political and economic nature of environmental issues has long been observed, as manifested in the Kyoto Protocol (KP), a treaty that aims to bring down pollutant levels from the atmosphere which was ratified on December 1997. The KP was supposed to be the response of the UN to environmental issues, an amendment to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, where signatory nations are assigned mandatory targets to reduce GHG emissions. Although it is stipulated that developed countries should follow the KP, former US President Bill Clinton did not submit it to the Republican-dominated Senate which was against it. Later, in 2001, US President George W. Bush also withdrew his support for the KP, claiming that the treaty would harm the US economy and that it was unfair to industrialized nations because developing countries were not required to control their emissions. The refusal of US to comply with the KP only proves that environmental issues are not free from economic and political interests.

Climate Politics

Clearly, the global warming issue cannot simply be reduced to an environmental issue but is also an issue grounded on political will and economic capacity. For instance, another campaign of environmental groups centers on the development and future use of alternative and renewable sources of energy like electricity, wind, geothermal, and marine current energy. According to Ryan Damaso, secretarial staff of Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment, a national non-governmental organization, these alternative sources will remain in their prototype stage. He argues that with the current world economic set-up, no government will promote these sources. If these are actually carried out, they will not be accessible to developing nations because of high market costs.

Damaso’s statement reveals that environmental issues such as global warming cannot be perceived similarly across all nations, for these are issues that are inextricably linked with other societal factors. Most developing countries will address first the issues of poverty, hunger, and economic stability, at the soonest time possible. Moreover, their environmental policies are not that efficient because they allow foreign companies to use their natural resources for economic survival.  These companies are foreign-owned, and most do not adhere to the environmental policies of each developing country. For instance, Damaso cites the prevalence of multinational logging companies in the Philippines which are granted licenses even at the risk of depleting the country’s forests.

Gore pointed out, “the solutions are in our hands,” implying the necessity for individuals to act on the global warming issue. Every person is capable of doing something to reduce the GHG in the air, but individual actions shall yield limited results as long as big manufacturing companies of damaging products are not exposed and apprehended, which are owned and operated by multinational corporations. For as with all societal problems, real and sustainable solutions to environmental problems will not emerge from individual efforts, but from greater political participation of all concerned people. ●

Sources:

Faure, Michael, et.al. (2003). Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. UK: EE Publishing, Ltd.

Guggenheim, Davis, et. al. (2005). An Inconvenient Truth. Paramount Classics, Inc.

La Vina, Antonio G.M. (1997) Climate Change& Developing Countries: Negotiating a Global Regime. QC: Institute of International Legal Studies, UP Law Center.

Various news reports from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, and Manila Bulletin

Published in print in the Collegian’s May 22, 2007 issue, with the headline “The Heat is On The Politics of Global Warming.”