Gerry Arances began as a student activist in the Philippines: he's worked to stop fossil fuels from coal to liquid natural gas from warming the world and destroying his home. He is currently the executive director of the Center for Energy Ecology and Development in the Philippines and convenes a broad coalition called Power for People.
GERRY ARANCES
Gerry’s son singing: “ADB spends public money on harmful projects and dirty energy, their new energy policy must exclude coal, gas and oil…”
I started as a student activist, going to the urban poor communities to work with them, empower them. It just moves me. That's my purpose. And now that I have kids, it's about their future.
So I'm Gerry Arances, currently the executive director of the Center for Energy Ecology and Development. I am also a lead convener of a broad coalition called Power for People.
No one can forget we were hit by the strongest hurricane typhoon in the history of humanity which really devastated and killed thousands, tens of thousands of Filipinos. In the last decade, there was a push by the Philippine government to actually expand the coal fleet in the Philippines. So it was mind-boggling from our end that our Energy Department is pushing for the same energy resources that has put the world in this dire situation. Fortunately for everyone, last year, we was able to force the national government to finally declare a coal moratorium.
Unfortunately, there's another detour. So because of all that winding down, there's a lot of pressure to import LNG, liquefied natural gas. One of the developments of the LNG expansion in the country was brought up when Secretary Kerry had a meeting with the Philippine government, and what they talked about was the support of the US government for the Philippines to develop its LNG industry. Quite recently, there was a USAID paper on the prospects of LNG development in the country. And it was a gross misrepresentation of what LNG will be doing to the power sector of the country. There’s no mention of the impact to the Verde Island Passage!
So the Philippines is an archipelago composed of 7,000 Islands. Along with these beautiful islands are really rich marine biodiversity. Some would even compare it to the Great Barrier Reef. That passage is called Verde Island Passage. It's warm and you can see a lot of species underneath you. The shore fish. They look like Nemo. So there's a lot of Nemos and marine turtles, what we call in the Philippines as pawikan, the big ones. And then you see dolphins playing. And it's just, it’s just breathtaking.
That place is a hot spot right now of a massive expansion of liquefied natural gas facilities. Almost 90% of the planned LNG power plants now in the pipeline are all located beside the Verde Island Passage, They drill. And there's a platform which basically sucks the gas from underground. And it would have massive implications, not just for biodiversity, but the tens of thousands of fisherfolks that rely heavily for their daily lives on their fish catch.
So you can see that it's not just double whammy. It's many layers of problems surrounding this massive detour. It is mind-boggling for us that LNG is still touted as a transition fuel. Why would a country that's supposed to be leading peddle the concept that Asia needs to get rid of its coal, but transition it to fossil gas as a bridge fuel? It's a no brainer to pursue renewable energy. It's clean, you get to achieve your climate targets. It's less impact to the environment. And it's indigenous. So all these detours are lame excuses for the status quo to still profit from our dire situations.
So at 1.5 degrees, it's already a death sentence to many thousands and even millions of Filipinos. At two degrees, we lost 99.8% of our coral reefs. 60% of the protein intake of Filipinos depends on marine resources. 60%! Can you imagine the next generation not having that resources, which will be lost because of global warming?
I have three kids, and I educate them on climate change. Like when we usually eat fish, I always tell them that you might end up not being able to eat this in the next 20 years, or 30 years. Because that's the fact. One of CEED’s and Power for People's engagements is the ongoing energy review of the Asian Development Bank, which is still opening up financing for LNG development in Asia. And my 7-year-old son was actually the voice behind one of the songs targeting the Asian Development Bank. So my son knows the politics of the ADB, the song goes like this, like ADB spends public money... and at the end of the song, he asked ADB you should be investing on renewable energy.
You can no longer imagine why the US or why developed country governments are pushing for LNG development. Something has got to change in this system. Unfortunately, many of our governments are actually captured by the massive lobby of big business. We need to change: the interest of the people first, before profits. Environmental justice is intrinsically connected to human rights. It goes hand in hand, the people's interest and the planet goes hand in hand.
Gerry’s son: “In a climate ‘mergency, planet earth, must be fossil free.”