MANILA — Albay has declared a State of Climate Emergency and has committed to reducing the province's carbon emissions to help mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.

In a stream of the signing of the declaration, Albay Gov. Edcel Greco "Grex" Lagman said "the urgency of addressing the ongoing climate crisis cannot be overstated and we must act quickly," saying also that this is the first declaration on a provincial level.

Environmentalist and church groups called on the previous Duterte administration and on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a climate crisis on a national level.

In the absence of that declaration, local governments like those in Quezon City and Makati have made their own declarations.

The declarations — and accompanying commitments — are meant to help countries adhere to the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

Albay's commitments

Among the commitments in the Albay declaration, according to a Philippine Movement for Climate Justice release on the declaration, are:

• Discouraging the use of liquified natural gas and other fossil fuels as primary energy sources
• Urging financial institutions to craft clear roadmaps to divest from fossil fuel projects
• Peaking fossil fuel use by 2025
• Initiating circular and sustainable development in all facets of work
• Advocating for policy reforms that address ecological challenges

Included in those policy reforms are coming up with and implementing a local climate action plan and facilitating a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

Just transition means looking after the welfare of workers who may be displaced by the shift to a low-carbon economy.

Lagman said Albay will work towards the phaseout of fossil fuel as an energy source and will aim to get 100% of its primary energy mix from renewable sources by 2050.

He added that the declaration on the province level is meant to encourage legislative councils in Albay's three cities and 15 towns to make similar declarations and to craft their own climate action plans.

"Hindi tayo limitado sa climate change, may mga sangay-sangay na advocacies ito na ito ang angkla," the governor also said.

(We are not limited specifically to climate change. There are related advocacies that are anchored on this.)

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National declaration urged

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"We urge the national government under President Bongbong Marcos and all heads of other local governments to make the bold decision now to declare state of climate emergency in your localities and the entire Philippines," Ian Rivera, PMCJ national coordinator, said.

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The Philippines, while not a major contributor of the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change, is among the countries most at risk from extreme weather events and flooding attributed to the climate crisis.

In a Social Weather Stations survey in March, 93 percent of respondents said they personally experienced the effects of the changing climate in the past three years.