The Net Zero Carbon Alliance (NZCA), a private sector-backed organization, asked the government for a firm commitment and a national position to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
NZCA executive director and Energy Development Corp. (EDC) assistant vice president Allan Barcena said most Asian countries have net zero emissions goal except for the Philippines.
“If you look at the list of countries who have net zero commitments, most of our Asian neighbors do have a country commitment. In the Philippines, we don’t have. We do not have a declaration about achieving net zero by 2050. But we have an NDC [nationally determined contribution]. We have an NDC which is to cut our emissions by 75 percent,” Barcena said.
The NDC targets a 75-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to a business-as-usual scenario and requires investments of about $72 billion.
Barcena said the NDC hinges on fund availability and technology, “so it’s a qualified NDC commitment.”
“But going back to zero, it’s a big challenge because there’s no country-level push for net zero. And therefore, private companies, NGOs, are doing it on their own. It would have been better if as a country, you commit, and then everything follows,” Barcena said.
NZCA has 32 partner-members in various industries and enterprises such as manufacturing, real estate, hospitality, information technology, mobility, finance and the academe as well as five partner-enabler organizations as of September.
NZCA, on its third year, held its inaugural net conference with the theme: “Strengthening resilience: Scaling the Philippine private sector’s net zero ambitions”. The conference gathered businesses, policy leaders, financial institutions and other stakeholders to discuss strategies guiding the Philippines’ private sector toward a meaningful, equitable and sustainable net zero transformation.
EDC and First Gen Corp. chairman Federico Lopez said the ultimate goal of net zero “is to solve the climate crisis that, by all accounts, is undeniably real and in urgent need of action.”
“We have a narrowing time frame of the next 25 years to make our every action count and avoid irreversible damage to our planet. There is no other way to go but Net Zero,” Lopez said.
