Environmental Issues in the Pacific Islands, The Philippines - Case Study Example

Environmental Issues in the Pacific Islands: The Philippines Introduction The Philippines is a developing country that is rich in natural resources,but it is one country that has serious environmental problems. Among these are: urban congestion, water shortage, diminution of forest resources, degradation of coastal and marine resources, loss of biodiversity and habitat destruction, land-use conversion, waste disposal, and water and air pollution. Two of these problems, the urban water and air pollution and degradation of forest resources shall be the subject of this paper. In particular, this article shall examine the major causes and impacts of such problems and explore the possible solutions that may be implemented. References will be made to other regions that have formulated and implemented successful environmental programs to serve as guidance in deducing viable environmental projects or programs for the country. Air and Water Pollution The Philippines now comprises of about 80 million people and the majority is found to be dwelling in urban areas. Among other Asian countries, the Philippines ranks as having one of the highest urbanized areas. The rapid increase in the population rate in general and in the urbanization rate in particular, has thus contributed much not only to resource depletion but also to the significant decrease in air and water quality levels. One of the direct results of this is the increase in the levels of waste generation. According to a World Bank study on Waste Generation (World Bank, 2001), the average Filipino generates around 0.3 to 0.7 kilograms of garbage daily depending on income levels. The highest waste-producing area is the National Capital Region, which accounts to 23% of the country's production, or 1/4 of the country's generation waste as a whole. In a similar study in 2004, the World Bank found that around 2.2 million metric tons of organic pollution have been produced annually by domestic (48 percent), agricultural (37 percent), and industrial (15 percent) sectors. Out of the identified regions with critical water levels, domestic and industrial sources were determined to be the major water pollutants. Inadequate wastewater treatment has affected the health of the people, with the water having found to contain significant presence of disease-causing bacteria and viruses, making it unsuitable for drinking and even bathing. On a more macro level, this poor water quality threatens biodiversity, and deteriorates the quality of life. Diseases such as gastro-enteritis, diarrhea, typhoid, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis, and more recently, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have all been attributed to poor water quality. As such, the water-related death rates and health outbreaks have been reported to increase over the years. Despite all of these, however, awareness of the urgent need to improve overall sanitation and implement more effective water pollution control have remained very low, as reflected by the low prioritization given to sanitation and sewerage investments. As it is, only a small portion of the country's population has access to sewer systems and decent sanitation facilities (World Bank, 2004). The enactment and implementation of the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 which has led to the gradual phase out of leaded gasoline, has contributed much to the significant drop in the ambient lead levels. Despite this, however, other air pollutants such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxides and total oxidants remain in levels that exceed the standards and therefore are still considered a major concern. Industrialization and the growing population are seen to be the major contributors to this persistent problem. These air pollutants come from small and medium industries that use fossil fuels, with a high share of coal, as the main sources of industrial energy. Among these major air-polluting industries are those engaged in the use of iron, steel, fertilizer, and cement. In addition, the increase in urbanization has encouraged the establishment of more factories, warehouses and plants in major cities, thereby further increasing their population densities. Industrial and economic progress has also enabled more Filipinos to acquire vehicles, leading to a rapid growth of the automotive industry and consequently to increase in vehicular emissions that place the health of urban people at risk (Rebolledo & Nuguid-Anden, 2003). Deforestation It is estimated that about 24.0% -or approximately 7,162,000 hectares-of Philippines is forested. Of this, 11.6% -or nearly 829,000 hectares-is classified as primary forest, that which has the highest biodiversity. Between 1990 and 2000, the Philippines has lost an average of 262,500 hectares of forest per year. This amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 2.48%. Moreover, between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change decreased by 20.2% to 1.98% per annum. Thus, in total, the Philippines has actually lost 32.3% of its forest cover, or around 3,412,000 hectares between 1990 and 2005. Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion (defined as change in forest area plus change in woodland area minus net plantation expansion) for the 1990-2005 interval, Philippines lost 7.9% of its forest and woodland habitat (Mongabay, 2006). Again, this problem can be traced back to the high population growth in the country. More people means more pressure on the environment and on natural resources. Because of the rapid population growth land-clearing for cultivation and land conversions have been widespread. Property developers are converting agricultural lands for the establishment of human settlements. Cutting of trees and illegal logging activities have been rampant and almost out of control due to the rise in number of industries that use timber as one of the major raw materials. As such, the country's flora and fauna are slowly disappearing and its rich biodiversity is gradually deteriorating. Action Points While there have been numerous government, private sector, civil society and even international programs established to address these environmental issues, improvements have been quite slow. The Asian Development Bank has identified the following key constraints that should be given due importance and consideration in developing or formulating any initiative geared towards environmental protection and maintenance: (i) underfunded environment and natural resources mandates; (ii) the relatively slow pace of promulgation of important legislation, particularly the revised Public Land Act, the National Land Use Act, the Water Resources Management Act; the Sustainable Forest Management Act and legal instruments for the creation of a National Environmental Management Authority, (iii) incongruence between agency mandates and agency organizational structures; (iv) insufficient application of market-based instruments; (v) insufficient enforcement of existing regulations; (vi) reliance on sector-based, rather than ecosystem-based planning and management; (vii) a weak legal and regulatory framework for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that does not require new forms of environmental assessment such as cumulative, strategic, programmatic, or policy EIA; (viii) slow pace of devolution and decentralization of environmental and natural resources mandates under the Local Government Code (LGC); (ix) inadequate management of still largely open access forestlands; (x) ongoing effects of timber logging; (xi) poor inter-agency coordination and integration on environmental and natural resource matters; (xii) and incomplete data and information for planning and management (ADB, 2005). It is quite evident from these identified factors that the bulk of the burden lies on the country's legal, policy and institutional structures. Inadequate enforcement systems and weak legal and regulatory frameworks reflect on the people's attitudes about their environment in general. While there are various non-government organizations that promote the uplifting of the nation's natural resources, cooperation and participation from the major portion of the population will not be realized without sufficient government intervention. The continued low adherence to the waste segregation program is one evidence of this. People continue to throw their waste carelessly and give low priority to recycling. Moreover, people do not seem to be content with owning just one vehicle. The continued rise in automotive sales is proof that more people are buying more than one car and since the large majority of the citizens are still impoverished, there is no way that the sales are directly proportional to the number of buyers. What is more, despite the tragedies from landslides and soil erosions that the country has experienced recently in some areas, illegal logging activities have remained rampant and virtually uncontrolled. The importance of a strong legislative framework as well as firm political will cannot be overemphasized enough. People need to see that the government is serious about its environmental policies. The most fervent initiative must come from the government. An example of this is the participation of four Developing countries, including China, India, the Republic of Korea and Australia, all of which were not previously bound by the Kyoto Protocol (which established emission targets for participating countries), in the launch of a New Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (US State Department 2005) together with the US and Japan. It should be noted that the US and China rank first and second as the largest national emitters of carbon dioxide in the globe respectively, while India and Japan occupy the fourth and fifth ranks. The partnership aims to "to promote and create an enabling environment for development, diffusion, deployment and transfer of existing and emerging cleaner technologies and practices. These will relate to energy efficiency, clean coal, liquefied natural gas, carbon capture and storage, combined heat and power, methane capture and use, civilian nuclear power, geothermal power, hydropower, wind power, solar power, and other renewables, rural/village energy systems, advanced transportation, and so on" (UNEP, 2006). Elsewhere in the region, China is showing the world that it is taking the matter of environmental sustainability seriously. Just recently, it has espoused the "circular economy" - a concept which promotes recycling of industrial waste materials, including energy and water such that one's facility waste becomes another's material. Hence, in the circular economy, "all economic activities pursue low resource exploitation, maximum efficiency in using materials and energy, and low waste generation. Comprehensive legislation, policy and technology innovation mechanisms will be introduced to promote the circular economy" (UNEP, 2006). Likewise, Japan is also doing its own recycling initiatives with the adoption of the 3Rs concept - Reducing waste, reusing products, and recycling resources. Japan has made it as one of its national targets by 2010 to increase the percentage of recycled material input from 10% to 14% and reduce the amount of disposable waste from 56 million to 28 million tones. Conclusion Like many other developing countries, the Philippines is experiencing environmental degradation in alarming levels. Two of the most serious concerns are the rapid rate of deforestation and continued rise of air and water pollution. The effects of these problems add to the compounding issues that the country has to face such as poverty, political instability, etc. More than anything else, the country needs to strengthen its legislative framework to be able to implement environmental programs effectively. No amount of international financial assistance or environmental programs will ever be useful if the government does not have the political will to implement changes. China and Japan are two countries that show how serious they are in establishing a sustainable environment. Evidence of this is their respective governments' firm initiatives on implementing environmental mandates that their citizens are bound to follow. Bibliography Country environmental analysis for the Republic of the Philippines (2004). Asian Development Bank, 5. Retrieved 27 March 2006 from http://www.adb.org/Documents/Reports/CEA/phi-jan-2005.pdf Deforestation statistics: Philippines (2006). Mongabay. Retrieved 27 March 2006 from http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/2000/Philippines.htm Global Environmental Outlook (2006). United Nations Environment Program. Retrieved 27 March 2006 from http://www.unep.org/geo/yearbook/yb2006/022.asp Philippines: environment monitor 2001. World Bank. Retrieved 26 March 2006 from http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2002/01/18/000094946_02010711090330/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf Philippines: environment monitor 2003. World Bank. Retrieved 26 March 2006 from http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2005/04/27/000090341_20050427085636/Rendered/PDF/32141.pdf Rebolledo, AB. J. and Nuguid-Anden, C. M. (2003). Appendix 2: Environmental issues in the Philippines. SRI in Asian Emerging Markets. Retrieved 26 March 2006 from http://www.asria.org/publications/lib/country/philippines_appendix.pdf Read More