75% of Filipinos Are Convinced Climate Change Is a Serious Problem

Located along the typhoon belt and the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines is often hit by various natural disasters. It’s no wonder, then, that a global survey conducted by United Kingdom-based market research firm YouGov revealed that among 28 countries, the Philippines has the highest percentage of people who believe that climate change will greatly affect human lives.

The study was conducted online from June 11 - 22 and had a total of 30,000 respondents. It showed that 75 percent of Filipino respondents believe that climate change will leave “a great deal of impact.” This is much higher than the United States, where only 24 percent believe the same.

Other countries that ranked high on the list were Vietnam, India, and Qatar. Majority of people in the 28 countries surveyed agree that climate change is likely to cause serious economic damage, destroy cities, and wage wars eventually.

While many people all over the world think that climate change is the problem of future generations, many Filipinos actually know what’s up. Sixty-three percent of Filipinos who took the survey believe that climate change is already occurring and drastic measures should be taken to reverse its effects. When asked if they felt like their country could be doing more on the issue, 50 percent of Filipinos surveyed answered "yes."

Unfortunately, this “wokeness” is likely due to the fact that the Philippines experiences a lot of natural disasters.

On average, the country is hit by 20 tropical cyclones annually. One of the worst typhoons that hit the country was 2013’s Haiyan, which killed at least 6,300 people; an extreme weather condition brought about by the Pacific Ocean heating at a rapid rate. Seven years later, the country has yet to fully recover from that disaster.

Aside from typhoons and the flooding they cause, scientists say that the worsening El Niño phenomenon or drought in the Philippines is also caused by climate change.

Despite the catastrophic effects of these disasters, the Philippine government has decided to no longer participate in international climate change conferences.

“Following Duterte’s answer to UN’s plea for yet another stronger stand against climate change — which he branded as more hot air — I am rejecting all official participation in climate change conferences requiring air travel. We’ll just vote Yes to radical proposals. No more talk,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said in June.

Duterte said that such conferences have done ‘nothing’ to solve the problem of climate change and were a waste of time and money, Rappler reported.

The Philippines' Commission on Human Rights has urged the government to change its mind, saying that by participating in such conferences, the country will have a say on climate change discourse. It said that participation is vital because the Philippines is greatly affected by climate change.

Based on the YouGov survey, it looks like most Filipinos are aware of this harsh reality too.