Genuine climate action demands climate justice. Similar to how climate justice ought to be envisioned, the panel is anchored upon and puts at the forefront the experiences on climate change and on climate action of vulnerable sectors and communities across Philippine society (indigenous peoples in Atok, Benguet and in Tanay, Rizal, fisherfolk in La Union, the Filipino Deaf community, and the Filipino working class). While informed by the developments in international climate discourse, the papers commonly express that climate action is still being fought, negotiated, and determined locally, where it truly matters. Nevertheless, institutional accountability, governance mechanisms, and policy coherence remain determinants of social inclusion in climate action. Further, when climate change workstreams, such as those considered in this panel namely Loss and Damage, Mitigation, Adaptation, Climate Education, and Just Transition, are examined without the perspective and nuance that social sciences provide, actors could immediately initiate climate action without any consideration of which sectors and communities are bound to be left behind in the process. From these, the Klima Policy Center of the Manila Observatory, a Jesuit institution working for science-policy interface in climate change discourse, presents this panel as evidence that climate action and policy, when devoid of social sciences, can never truly approximate the meaning of climate justice and the solidarity required for a shared future.
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This is a Special Panel on the Lux in Domino 2030 Priority Area on Integral Ecology that also supports the School of Social Sciences Research Thrust on Environment, Society, and Planetary Well-being.
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Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) and Loss and Damage: The Case of Atok, Benguet
Jameela Joy
Reyes, JD, MSc (cand.)
Klima Policy Center, Manila Observatory
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Doreen Allasiw, PhD
Benguet State University
Ma. Laurice
Jamero, PhD
Klima Policy Center, Manila Observatory
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Atok, Benguet, renowned for its mountains, local produce, and cherry blossoms, is one of the coldest places in the Philippines and one of the country’s most vulnerable towns to climate change. Between December and February, instances of frost are reported by local communities, which have led, in some cases, to the destruction of produce and changes in the ecosystem. With temperature levels increasing globally, and armed with the awareness of the frequency and intensity of these frosts and other climate events, the indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) of Atok, Benguet have utilized their traditional knowledge to adapt to climate impacts, as well as take steps to avert, minimize, and address loss and damage. This paper will discuss how these IPLC use their local and traditional knowledge in ensuring that their livelihoods, cultures, and lands are protected and celebrated amidst an increasingly warming world.
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Left out of Discourse: Perspectives from Kaliwa
Jameela Joy
Reyes, JD, MSc (cand.)
Klima Policy Center, Manila Observatory
Despite vocal opposition from the Dumagat-Remontado Indigenous Peoples of Tanay, Rizal, as well as civil society, the construction of the Kaliwa Dam has started in 2022, and its operation is expected to begin in 2027. The criticism is broad, ranging from ecosystem concerns to livelihood issues; however, fundamental to the narrative is the indigenous resistance to the construction of the dam. The Indigenous community, situated in Tanay, Rizal, has been vocal in questioning the dam, and have raised concerns on the obtaining of their Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), a precondition requirement prior to the development of any plans that will transgress into their ancestral domain. This paper will, through an anthropological lens, look at the ways by which society pushes further into the margins indigenous peoples in its pursuit for development, questions the definitions allocated to development, and looks at which voices are centered, and which priorities are left behind, in (re)imagining and (re)creating worlds.
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The Climate Realities of the Deaf: Evidence from a Climate Vulnerability Assessment of the Filipino Deaf community
Angelika Lourdes Pizarro
Isabella Ann Mendoza
Keith Sigfred Ancheta, MSc
Cecilia Therese
Guiao, JD, MSt, MTSC
Patricia Nicdao
Parabukas
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Rommel Lo
Dumaguete Effata Association of the Deaf, Inc.
Persons with disabilities are affected by climate change in a more severe and distinct way compared to others, as stated by the UN Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2020. In its 2022 report, Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasized that priority should be given to addressing disability-related inequities in climate adaptation efforts. In the Philippines, inclusive and participatory approaches to tackling the climate crisis have been recognized as beneficial by laws and policies. However, implementing these policies has been challenging. Concrete and appropriate measures to address the vulnerability of the disability sector, including the Deaf community, to climate change and its impacts are still lacking. Data on the nature of the disability sector's vulnerability to climate change would have informed what kind of interventions would be necessary. Indeed, data is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. A climate vulnerability assessment of Deaf communities in the Philippines revealed that critical information such as early warnings about impending disasters and climate education, has yet to be made accessible to the Deaf who have unique communication needs and primarily rely on Filipino Sign Language. Impacts of climate-related hazards on the Deaf’s physical and mental well-being and livelihood were also reported.
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Just Transition Assessment Tool (JTAT) for Social Impacts of Climate Action as applied to the Philippine Jeepney Modernization Case
Jayvy R. Gamboa, JD
Klima Policy Center
Manila Observatory
From a discourse on impacts of climate change, there is now an increasing focus on impacts of climate action—the response itself to climate change—to society and its sectors. Evidence from grassroots and from academic literature recognize that climate action has the potential for exclusion. Considering this and in conjunction with the need for immediate, consistent, and radical climate action, there is a knowledge gap on how to adequately measure and set indicators for social impacts of climate action and ensure that it is indeed just, equitable, and even emancipatory. This study addresses the gap in literature by proposing the Just Transition Assessment Tool (JTAT), an assessment tool for climate action and its social impacts grounded on recognized Just Transition principles, such as justice (procedural, distributive, and restorative), social dialogue, social protection, and structural change, among others. Further, the tool is designed to be scalable and replicable in different settings of social impacts analyses, such as public and corporate planning, civil society transparency initiatives, and educational exercises. To explore its efficacy, the JTAT is applied to the case of the Philippine Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) with respect to its primary stakeholders, the Filipino jeepney drivers and operators, workers, and commuters.
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