By Myrna M. Velaso | Manila Bulletin
Echoing ‘code red’ alarm on the escalated global warming, leading renewable energy developer Energy Development Corporation (EDC) is reinforcing calls for the country to accelerate its energy mix transition to cleaner energy technologies—primarily renewable energy and the electrification of its transport sector; and such shall be complemented with lifestyle changes of humanity.
In a virtual event, EDC President and CEO Richard B. Tantoco sounded off that “unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, limiting global warming within 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius will be beyond reach.”
He qualified that “contrary to what a lot of us may think, the Covid-19 pandemic is not our greatest problem…even when we get out of this pandemic, the biggest crisis of our time still remains and that’s climate change.”
Citing the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Tantoco indicated that there will be “irreversible consequences of climate change if no drastic action is taken to decarbonize the atmosphere.”
He specified that “among the undeniable facts the IPCC report established was that: human activities have unequivocally warmed the oceans, land, and atmosphere when it was merely deemed a possibility eight years ago.”
And as assessed by climate scientists, Tantoco conveyed that “global surface temperatures will continue to increase at least until 2050,” further pointing out that “under most scenarios, crossing 1.5 degrees will happen in the early 2030s.”
The EDC chief executive, nevertheless, stipulated that “in the absence of deep carbon cuts, 2.0 degrees will be exceeded during this century.”
Given the scale of the climate crisis that humanity is now confronted with, Tantoco highlighted that there are “practical steps that nations and enterprises can take, such as accelerating pursuit of RE in powering not just homes and industries, but transportation as well.”
He added that such shall be “coupled with green investing and an unequivocal rejection of fossil-based fuels, such as coal.”
The other critical steps that can be taken shall include forest cover rehabilitation and regeneration; while for communities, “resilience against extreme weather disturbances needs to be of utmost priority for local government units,” he said.
For families and individuals, Tantoco asserted that “simple but impactful lifestyle practices, such as conservation of natural resources and decreased material consumerism continues to be of big help.”
The EDC executive acknowledged though that there would already be too little that can be done to overturn the environmental mistakes of the past, but “it is up to all of us to do something to prevent them from happening again – to be a part of the solution to the greatest crisis of our time.”
The Energy Development Corporation (EDC) is a pioneer in generating 100% clean, renewable, and reliable power as an electricity supplier in the Philippines for over 40 years. With power plants all over Visayas and Mindanao, the company is one of the biggest producers of geothermal energy in Asia and is expanding its reach in the international market, allowing it to offer customers affordable energy rates. EDC also strives to provide the best customer service it can to all its clients by having helpful salespeople and easy to understand contracts. Because of all of this, it is poised to become the premier supplier of electricity for the Philippines’ Green Energy Option Program. EDC takes its mission as a renewable energy provider seriously and goes beyond sustainability by investing in programs that enhance the environment and empower its partner communities, thereby fostering regenerative development. The company has also been working toward being carbon-neutral by improving its energy efficiency, as well as implementing various greening projects to ensure that its mission to provide future generations with a better life remains intact.
