We are alarmed over this news of Meralco’s new power supply agreement. This means we will be locked into additional coal and gas power for the next 20 years. Coal and fossil fuels are major causes of greenhouse gas emissions. Their far-ranging environmental and health effects are bad for people, communities, and the climate.

We are alarmed over this news of Meralco’s new power supply agreement. This means we will be locked into additional coal and gas power for the next 20 years. Coal and fossil fuels are major causes of greenhouse gas emissions. Their far-ranging environmental and health effects are bad for people, communities, and the climate.

This development contradicts the Department of Energy’s recent pronouncement of a moratorium on coal expansion. The coal moratorium policy announced last October 27, which builds on a policy announced in May 2020 to expand the use of renewables for both environmental and reliability purposes, was a positive step for the country’s fair share of climate action. The new power supply agreement is tipped to shatter the policy objectives of the coal moratorium.

This development is inconsistent with the Philippines’ commitment to the Paris Agreement. It runs counter to the global consensus to tackle climate change by facilitating urgent energy transition away from coal and fossil fuels.

The goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit the global average temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit this to 1.5C. This requires rapid decarbonization of the global power sector. Countries must reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate-neutral world by mid-century.

We have very little time left to meet the climate goal and prevent a climate catastrophe. Other countries, including our neighbors in Asia, have announced targets for the phase-out of coal-fired generation and acceleration of solar and wind power resources in order to meet emissions reductions targets.