THE world may still be facing the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are other problems that continue to plague us, which may emerge as a bigger emergency to the people of the planet.
One such problem is pollution, about which the United Nations recently conducted a worldwide survey, its biggest ever. The survey covered 50 countries with over half the world’s population. It asked 1.2 million people, of which over half a million were young people under 18 years of age, about a host of climate policies affecting the economy, energy, food and farms, nature, and protecting people.
Among the survey findings:
The most serious forebodings about the impact of climate change were in Britain, Italy, and Japan, where 80 percent of the people in the survey expressed fears about more destructive storms. Close behind them were France, Germany, South Africa, and Canada, where about 75 percent voiced these fears – followed by another group of countries, including the United States, Russia, Vietnam, and Brazil, with 66 percent.
Nearly 75 percent of people in small island countries see climate change as an emergency. Some face the prospect of their lands disappearing beneath rising seas. This group was followed by high-income countries, with 72 percent; middle-income countries, with 62 percent; and less-developed countries, with 58 percent.
The most popular among the solutions offered were protecting forests and natural habitats, selected by 54 percent of the respondents. Following closely were development of solar, wind, and other forms of renewable energy; use of “climate-friendly” farming techniques; and investing in more green business and jobs.
In four of five countries with the highest emissions from land-use change, the majority supported conserving forests and landfills, while nine of 10 countries with the most urbanized populations supported the use of electric cars and buses, as well as bicycles.
“The results of the survey clearly illustrate that urgent climate action has broad support among people around the globe, across nationalities, age, gender, and educational level,” Achim Steiner, administrator of the UN Development Program, said.
The poll also showed how people want their policymakers to tackle the climate crisis, he said. “From climate-friendly farming to protecting nature and investing in a green recovery from COVID-19, the survey brings the voice of the people to the forefront of the climate debate. It signals ways in which countries can move forward with public support, as we work together to tackle this enormous challenge.”
In our own corner of the globe, we have a pollution problem that the government is facing. After closing down Boracay island for six months in 2018, the government turned to Manila Bay, which is so heavily polluted that swimming is banned. The Supreme Court, no less, has ordered several government agencies led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to clean up the bay as well as the Pasig River, to a point where its waters are safe for swimming.
The Philippines has made its own contributions to the development of clean energy, with its geothermal, solar, wind, biomass, and water projects. We hope to keep up these efforts as our contribution to the solution of the global problem of pollution which, as the recent UN survey showed, is now recognized as a matter of great concern to the people of the whole world.
