Bangkok--Dec 7--Greenpeace
Community leaders from Southeast Asia today met with top executives from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to kickstart a campaign that seeks to halt funding for coal power plant projects and support renewable energy projects instead. Coal, the most carbon-intensive among all fossil fuels, contributes a major portion of carbon dioxide responsible for global climate change and causes serious health and social impacts to communities hosting them.
"The ADB and other international funding institutions along with
governments must shift investments from fossil fuel projects, like coal power plants, and ensure the widespread uptake of renewable energy projects to change the current trajectory of global climate change," said Jasper Inventor, Climate Campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has pointed out that
developing countries in Southeast Asia are expected to suffer most from climate change in terms of loss of life and effects on the economy. Extreme weather events such as strong typhoons, flooding, landslides, and droughts will occur more frequently and with greater severity.
"No government should ever allow the construction of coal power plants. They cause serious damage to the environment and people's health," said Maleewan Nakwirot, who suffers from chronic lung problems and has traveled all the way from the farming valley of Mae Moh in Northern Thailand to warn other villages of the catastrophe her community has suffered from coal power plants.
Despite the warning, the Philippine government is still setting out on a dangerous course of supporting coal power plant projects.
"The government is indifferent to the harm that coal power plant cause communities and to people's demands to stop these kind of projects," said Vince Cinches, Convenor of Cebu alliance for renewable energy (CARE), who leads the community opposition to a proposed coal power plant in Naga, Cebu . The community is already host to a 250 MW coal power plant.
The government is also pushing for the construction of another coal
power plant in Concepcion, Iloilo which has met strong opposition from the community there.
"The government is desperately peddling this dirty technology in our
community despite a series of rejection from many communities in Ilolilo. We will not allow the construction of this coal power and put our community and families at risk," said Delvy Balasbas, Chairman of Concepcion Allaince for Renewable Energy (COALFREE).
"When we rejected the planned coal power plant in Pulupandan the
government supported us in push for renewable energy projects in our community. The government should take on their promise and set out on renewable energy projects in other communities in the Philippines," said Ella Jacildo, community leader of Pulupandan.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Jasper Inventor, Climate Campaigner, +63 917 30095687
Arthur Jones Dionio, Regional Media Campaigner, +63 920 2390704
(Manila) +66 1925 4835 (Intl)
Arthur Jones Dionio
Regional Media Campaigner
Greenpeace Southeast Asia
Tel: +661 9254835
Fax: +662 2714243 End.