Developing countries such as the Philippines are bearing the brunt of the cost of climate change, with huge economic losses from extreme weather like cyclones and droughts, activists said yesterday.
"The impacts of climate change will be most catastrophic to countries who are the least able to cope," Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Abigail Jabines said.
Jabines said four successive cyclones toward the end of 2004 alone cost the Philippines 7.61 billion pesos (U.S$152.3 million), while a 1998 drought in the south damaged 828 million pesos worth of crops.
In a media briefing ahead of this week's climate change conference in Nairobi, Kenya, Greenpeace urged the Philippine government to invest heavily in renewable energy sources, citing studies suggesting that unchecked climate change will have disastrous economic impact, especially on developing countries.
Jabines said developed countries are not solely to blame for dumping billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Instead of avoiding industrialized nations' mistakes, the Philippines still relies for energy on coal, she said.
"It is imperative for the Philippines to switch to renewable and sustainable energy sources," Jabines said, noting that the country has harnessed less than 1 percent of its energy needs from renewable resources such as solar and wind power.
Studies have shown that carbon dioxide emissions heat the Earth's surface, leading to more water vapor in the air and contributing to higher temperatures.
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
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