Another Earth Day commemoration went by on Saturday and hopes are pinned on the younger generation to take part in efforts to help mitigate the effects of climate change.
Youth participation is essential to the campaign against climate change, as today’s youngsters are bound to become tomorrow’s leaders.
However, the participation of the youth should not end at mere ceremonial switching off lights during Earth Hour. This is but a way of making them aware of the need to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, which is among the climate change-driving greenhouse gases.
This brings us to the concept of intergenerational responsibility as enshrined in the case of Oposa v. Factoran which placed the Philippines on the world map as a country of laws that looks at novel concepts in protecting its future. The case proved that the country has strong environmental policies and progressive courts carrying out the function of the state as parens patriae.
Consistent with the fundamental law of the land, progressive legal mechanisms were instituted by government to protect the country’s resources through Republic Act (RA) 8749, or the Clean Air Act of 1999, RA 9275, or the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004; RA 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.These, along with laws on forestry, land-use plan and management, and mining, form the core of our utmost regard for the environment.
These laws recognize the impacts of a degraded environment to the health and well-being of the people and the economy. Under the present administration, several mining firms have been shut down to underscore the seriousness of the government drive to protect the environment from abuse.
The country also became a signatory to the Paris Climate Change Agreement and that should send a strong message to the youth following the concept of intergenerational responsibility.
Aside from serious government initiatives, it is also imperative that investors in extractive industries like mining and logging are guided and conscious in recognizing the responsibility of sustaining our abundant resources to provide ecosystems services for future generations.