SWS: 87% of Pinoys experienced climate change impact in last 3 years

A large majority of adult Filipinos have felt the effects of climate change, with 87% saying they personally experienced its impact within the last three years, survey firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported Thursday.

This was among the key findings of the SWS survey conducted from Dec. 8 to 13 last year. A total of 1,200 Filipino adult respondents participated in the study through face-to-face interviews.

In terms of magnitude, SWS found that 19% of respondents said they experienced the severe impact of climate change, 43% felt moderate impact, while 24% reported little impact. About 13% said they did not experience the impact of climate change.

Despite the high overall percentage, SWS reported decreasing figures over the past months.

"The December 2023 percentage of those who have personally experienced the impacts of climate change fell by 7 points from October 2023 and 6 points from December 2022, but it was similar to March 2017 and March 2013," the SWS said.

"Compared to October 2023, those who experienced the severe impact of climate change fell by 4 points, while those who experienced the moderate impact similarly decreased by 4 points," SWS said.

Among the powerful typhoons that hit the Philippines over the last three years include: Super Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) in 2021, Typhoon Henry (international name: Hinnamnor) in 2022, and Typhoon Jenny (international name: Koinu) that affected northern Philippines in October 2023 or about two months before the SWS poll was conducted.

Also in during the month of the SWS survey period, provinces across the country were already reeling from the sweltering heat of the El Niño phenomenon. Although the El Niño is a natural climate condition, its reduced rainfall and dry spell may double down on the separate effects of climate change, according to a Reuters report.

The SWS poll had a sampling error margin of ±2.8% for national percentages, and ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon (areas outside of the National Capital Region), the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Mental, physical toll

The SWS study also found that majority of Filipinos believe climate change poses danger to both physical and mental health.

Some 88% of respondents felt that climate change impact may cause danger to their physical health; 47% perceived it as very dangerous; 42% said it was somewhat dangerous; while 12% answered that it was not dangerous.

Meanwhile, 81% of respondents believed climate change was dangerous to mental health. Among these people, 37% saw it as very dangerous, 44% somewhat dangerous, while the rest felt it was not dangerous.

"The proportion of those who said the impact of climate change is dangerous to their mental health was higher among those who experienced severe impact of climate change in the past three years than among those who experienced moderate impact and little impact and those who did not experience the impact of climate change," the SWS added.

Among the 93% who felt at least one emotion to climate change, most of them said they have felt negative emotions such as depression, anger, hopelessness, being responsible, and guilt.

Humanity and climate change

Asked if humanity can do something to stop or slow down the effects of climate change, only 57% of the respondents agreed.

However, SWS said this was a decline of 12 points from 69% in October 2023, and 19 points from 76% in December 2022. Those who thought that climate change was beyond humanity's control rose by 10 points to 39% from 29% in October 2023, and 16 points from 23% in December 2023.

Personal efficacy to do something to reduce climate risk likewise fell over the past year, with respondents agreeing that they can do something to reduce climate risks decreasing to 74% in December 2023 from 88% in December 2022.

As for personal efforts to mitigate climate risks, 39% of respondents said they participated in such initiatives.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) warned of rising sea levels as a result of climate change.

“While sea level rise may seem like an invisible almost imperceptible phenomenon to most of us, the Lopez Center reports that the Philippine rate of rise is double that of the global average looking back to 1993,” PDRF Chairperson Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala told Dano Tingcungco’s 24 Oras report.

Citing data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) showed the rise in sea levels globally has increased by 99.88 millimeters, four times higher than the global average in 1993.

The DENR warned that stronger effects of climate change may be felt in the Philippines should the government fail to address it.

“The plan estimates that the cost of inaction within the 2030 decade to the expected increases in temperature, rainfall changes, and sea-level rise, and typhoons, are in fact, amounting to about P1.4 trillion or 8% of 2020's GDP,” DENR Secretary Maria Antonio Yulo-Loyazaga said.

With this, the DENR has outlined a national adaptation plan which contains the hazards and exposure of climate change in each province.

Yulo-Loyazaga also said they crafted a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are eyeing to establish a marine research station in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, which can help the government maintain the country’s coastal and marine environment. — VDV, GMA Integrated News