Group 6 Chapter 7

MODULE 7
PEOPLE AND CLIMATE
OBJECTIVES:
• Understand the effects of climate change. (global and Philippine setting)

• Identify the responsibilities in addressing the ill-effects of climate change.
• Understanding the correlation of climate change to human rights.
INTRODUCTION
Human health has always been influenced by climate and weather. Changes in
climate and climate variability, particularly changes in weather extremes, affect the
environment that provides us with clean air, food, water, shelter, and security. Climate
change, together with other natural and human-made health stressors, threatens human
health and well-being in numerous ways. Some of these health impacts are already being
experienced in the United States.
Given that the impacts of climate change are projected to increase over the next
century, certain existing health threats will intensify, and new health threats may emerge.
Connecting our understanding of how climate is changing with an understanding of how
those changes may affect human health can inform decisions about mitigating (reducing)
the amount of future climate change, suggest priorities for protecting public health, and
help identify research needs.
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?

The planet's climate has constantly been changing over geological time, with
significant fluctuations of global average temperatures.
However, this current period of warming is occurring more rapidly than any past
events. It has become clear that humanity has caused most of the last century’s warming
by releasing heat-trapping gases—commonly referred to as greenhouse gases—to power
our modern lives. We are doing this through burning fossil fuels, agriculture and land-use
and other activities that drive climate change. Greenhouse gases are at the highest levels
they have ever been over the last 800,000 years. This rapid rise is a problem because it’s
changing our climate at a rate that is too fast for living things to adapt to.
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Climate change involves not only rising temperatures, but also extreme weather
events, rising sea levels, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, and a range of other
impacts.
WHAT CAUSES CLIMATE CHANGE?

There is an overwhelming scientific consensus that global warming is mostly man-
made: 97% of climate scientists have come to this conclusion.
One of the biggest drivers by far is our burning of fossil fuels – coal, gas and oil –
which has increased the concentration of greenhouse gases – such as carbon dioxide – in
our atmosphere. This, coupled with other activities like clearing land for agriculture, is
causing the average temperature of our planet to increase. In fact, scientists are as certain
of the link between greenhouse gases and global warming as they are of the link between
smoking and lung cancer.
This is not a recent conclusion. The scientific community has collected and studied
the data on this for decades. Warnings about global warming started making headlines
back in the late 1980s.
In 1992, 165 nations signed an international treaty, the UN Framework Convention

on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They have held meetings annually ever since (called
“Conference of the Parties” or COP), with the aim of developing goals and methods to
reduce climate change as well as adapt to its already visible effects. Today, 197 countries
are bound by the UNFCCC.
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE?

The effects of climate change are already being felt now, but they will get worse.
Global warming has reached approximately 1°C above pre-industrial levels. Every half
degree (or even less) of global warming counts.
It is important to remember that no one list of the effects of climate change can be
exhaustive. It is likely that heatwaves will occur more often and last longer, and that
extreme precipitation events will become more intense and frequent in many regions. The
oceans will continue to warm and acidify, and global mean sea level will continue to rise.
All of this will have, and is already starting to have, a devastating impact on human life.
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The urgent need to address climate change has become even clearer with the
release of a major report in October 2018 by the world’s leading scientific body for the
assessment of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The IPCC warns that in order to avoid catastrophic global warming, we must not reach
1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – or at very minimum not exceed that. The report sets out
the massive differences between the 1.5°C and 2°C scenarios.
By working to limit the increase in average global average temperatures to 1.5°C,

the IPCC states that we could for example:
• Reduce the number of people both exposed to climate-related risks and

susceptible to poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050.
• Protect 10 million people from risks related to sea levels.
• Reduce the proportion of the global population exposed to increase in water
stress by up to 50%, or one in every 25 people on this planet.
Perhaps most importantly, the IPCC report gave the world a clear deadline to avoid
catastrophe: greenhouse gas emissions must be halved from their 2010 levels by 2030 to
avoid reaching 1.5°C. Our governments must therefore take immediate steps right now to
change course. The longer we take to do this, the more we will have to rely on costly
technologies that could have harmful impacts on human rights.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told states that they must set credible
targets by 2020 to stop the increase of emissions, otherwise “we risk missing the point
where we can avoid runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences for people
and all the natural systems that sustain us.”
WHO IS IMPACTED THE MOST BY CLIMATE CHANGE?

Climate change is and will continue to harm all of us unless governments act.
However, its effects are likely to be much more pronounced for certain groups – for
example, those communities dependent on agricultural or coastal livelihoods – as well as
those who are generally already vulnerable, disadvantaged, and subject to discrimination.
These are some of the ways climate change can and is exacerbating inequalities:
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BETWEEN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING NATIONS:
At a national level, those in low-lying, small island states and less developed
countries will be and already are among those worst affected. People in the Marshall
Islands already regularly experience the devastating flooding and storms that destroy their
homes and livelihoods. The 2018 heatwave in the northern hemisphere made headlines
across Europe and North America, but some of the worst effects were also felt in places
like Pakistan, where more than 60 people died – mostly laborer’s already working in intense
heat – as temperatures soared above 44°C.
BETWEEN DIFFERENT ETHNICITIES AND CLASSES:

The effects of climate change and fossil fuel-related pollution also run along
ethnicity and class lines. In North America, it is largely poorer communities of colour who
are forced to breathe toxic air because their neighborhoods are more likely to be situated
next to power plants and refineries. They experience markedly higher rates of respiratory
illnesses and cancers, and African Americans are three times more likely to die of airborne
pollution than the overall US population.
BETWEEN GENDERS:
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by climate change, reflecting the
fact that they are more likely in many countries to be marginalized and disadvantaged. This
means that they are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate-related events as they are
less able to protect themselves against it and will find it harder to recover.
BETWEEN GENERATIONS:
Future generations will experience the worsening effects unless action is taken now
by governments. However, children and young people are already suffering due to their
specific metabolism, physiology, and developmental needs. This means, for example, that
the forced displacement experienced by communities impacting a whole range of rights –
from water, sanitation and food to adequate housing, health, education, and development
– is likely to be particularly harmful to children.
BETWEEN COMMUNITIES:
Indigenous peoples are among the communities most impacted by climate change.
They often live in marginal lands and fragile ecosystems which are particularly sensitive to
alterations in the physical environment. They maintain a close connection with nature and
their traditional lands on which their livelihoods and cultural identity depend.
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WHY IS CLIMATE CHANGE A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE?
Human rights are intimately linked with climate change because of its devastating
effect on not just the environment but our own wellbeing. In addition to threatening our very
existence, climate change is having harmful impacts on our rights to life, health, food, water,
housing, and livelihoods.
The longer governments wait to take meaningful action, the harder the problem
becomes to solve, and the greater the risk that emissions will be reduced through means
that increase inequality rather than reduce it.
These are some of the ways climate change is impacting and will impact our human rights:
RIGHT TO LIFE – We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety. But climate
change threatens the safety of billions of people on this planet. The most obvious example
is through extreme weather-related events, such as storms, floods, and wildfires. Typhoon
Yolanda in the Philippines claimed the lives of nearly 10,000 people in 2013. Heat stress
is among the most deadly impacts. The summer heatwave in Europe in 2003 resulted in
the deaths of 35,000 people. However, there are many other less visible ways that climate
change threatens lives. The World Health Organization predicts that climate change will
cause 250,000 deaths per year between 2030 and 2050, due to malaria, malnutrition,
diarrhea and heat stress.
RIGHT TO HEALTH – We all have the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health. According to the IPCC, the major health impacts of climate
change will include greater risk of injury, disease and death due to more intense heatwaves
and fires; increased risk of under-nutrition as a result of diminished food production in poor
regions; and increased risks of food- and water-borne diseases, and vector-borne
diseases. Children exposed to traumatic events such as natural disasters, exacerbated by
climate change, can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders. The health impacts of
climate change demand an urgent response, with unmitigated warming threatening to
undermine health systems and core global health objectives.
RIGHT TO HOUSING – We all have a right to an adequate standard of living for ourselves
and our families, including adequate housing. However, climate change threatens our right
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to housing in a variety of ways. Extreme weather events like floods and wildfires are already
destroying people’s homes, leaving them displaced. Drought, erosion, and flooding can
also over time change the environment whilst sea-level rises threaten the homes of millions
of people around the world in low-lying territories.
RIGHTS TO WATER AND TO SANITATION – We all have the right to safe water for
personal and domestic use and to sanitation that ensures we stay healthy. But a
combination of factors such as melting snow and ice, reduced rainfall, higher temperatures,
and rising sea levels show that climate change is affecting and will continue to affect the
quality and quantity of water resources. Already more than one billion people do not have
access to clean water, and climate change will make this worse. Extreme weather events
such as cyclones and floods affect water and sanitation infrastructure, leaving behind
contaminated water and thus contributing to the spread of water-borne diseases. Sewage
systems, especially in urban areas, will also be affected.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STOPPING CLIMATE CHANGE?
STATES
States have the obligation to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change by taking
the most ambitious measures possible to prevent or reduce greenhouse emissions within
the shortest possible timeframe. While wealthy states need to lead the way, both internally
and through international cooperation, all countries must take all reasonable steps to
reduce emissions to the full extent of their abilities.
States must also take all necessary steps to help everyone within their jurisdiction
to adapt to the foreseeable and unavoidable effects of climate change, thus minimizing the
impact of climate change on their human rights. This is true irrespective of whether the
state is responsible for those effects because states have an obligation to protect people
from harms caused by third parties.
States must take steps to tackle climate change as fast and as humanely as
possible. In their efforts to address climate change, they must not resort to measures that
directly or indirectly violate human rights. For example, conservation areas or renewable
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energy projects must not be created on the lands of Indigenous peoples without consulting
them and getting their consent.
In all measures, states should respect the right to information and participation for
all affected people, as well as their right to access effective remedies for human rights
abuses.
However, the current pledges made by governments to mitigate climate change are
completely inadequate, as they would lead to a catastrophic 3°C increase in average global
temperatures over pre-industrial levels by 2100. People in countries including France, the
Netherlands and Switzerland are taking their governments to court for their failure to
establish sufficient climate mitigation targets and measures.
CORPORATIONS
Businesses also have a responsibility to respect human rights. To meet this

responsibility, companies must assess the potential effects of their activities on human
rights and put in place measures to prevent negative impacts. They must make such
findings and any prevention measures public. Companies must also take measures to
remedy human rights abuses they cause or to which they contribute, either by themselves
or in cooperation with other actors. Such responsibilities extend to human rights harms
resulting from climate change.
Corporations, and particularly fossil fuel companies, must also immediately put
measures in place to minimize greenhouse emissions – including by shifting their portfolio
towards renewable energy – and make relevant information about their emissions and
mitigation efforts public. These efforts must extend to all the major subsidiaries, affiliates,
and entities in their supply chain.
Fossil fuel companies have been historically among the most responsible for
climate change – and this continues today. Research shows that just 100 fossil fuel-
producing companies are responsible for 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions since
1988.
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There is growing evidence that major fossil fuel companies have known for decades
about the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels and have attempted to suppress that
information and block efforts to tackle climate change.
WHY DO WE NEED TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE?
Because We All Deserve Equal Protection.
We are all born with fundamental human rights, yet these rights are under grave
threat from climate change. While climate change threatens all of our lives in some way or
other, people who experience discrimination are among those likely to be the worst
affected. We are all equally deserving of protection from this universal threat.
Because There Is Nothing To Lose From Acting, And Everything To Gain.
Fighting climate change gives us a chance to put the wellbeing of people first by
ensuring a right to a healthy environment. This will give us an opportunity to enhance
human rights, for example by enabling more people to access cleaner and cheaper energy
resources and create job opportunities in new sectors.
Because We Have The Knowledge, Power And Ability To Stop Climate Change.
Many people are already working on creative, inspiring, and innovative solutions to
address climate change. From citizens to companies to cities, there are people all over the
world actively working on policies and campaigns and solutions that will protect people and
the planet. Indigenous peoples and minority communities have for centuries developed
sustainable ways of living with the environments that they call home. We can learn from
them and, with their consent, benefit from their know-how to inform our own efforts to find
a different way of interacting with our planet.
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OUR CHANGING CLIMATE RISK PROFILE: PHILIPPINES
OVERVIEW
The Philippines is highly vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change, including sea
level rise, increased frequency of extreme
weather events, rising temperatures, and
extreme rainfall. This is due to its high
exposure to natural hazards (cyclones,
landslides, floods, droughts), dependence
on climate-sensitive natural resources,
and vast coastlines where all major cities
and the majority of the population reside.
The urban poor, many of whom live in
temporary shelters, are most at risk,
lacking the resources to prevent or mitigate the threat of coastal inundation and storm
surge. Consisting of 7,107 islands divided into three island groups (Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao), the Philippines lies in the world’s most cyclone-prone region, averaging 19–20
cyclones each year, of which 7–9 make landfall. Sea levels in the Philippines are rising
faster than the global average, increasing the hazard posed by storm surges and
threatening permanent inundation of low-lying areas. Services, agriculture, and industry
are the main economic sectors, employing 55, 29, and 16 percent of the workforce,
respectively. A rich yet increasingly depleted natural and marine resources base supports
livelihoods through fisheries, agriculture, forestry, energy, mining, and tourism and provides
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critical ecosystem services such as shoreline protection, flood control, soil stability and
habitats for biodiversity. (2, 9, 11)
February 2017
This document was prepared under the Climate Change Adaptation, Thought Leadership
and Assessments (ATLAS) Task Order No. AID-OAA-I-14-00013 and is meant to provide
a brief overview of climate risk issues. The key resources at the end of the document
provide more in-depth country and sectoral analysis. The contents of this report do not
necessarily reflect the views of USAID.
CLIMATE SUMMARY
The Philippines’ climate is tropical and monsoonal, and highly influenced by the El
Niño Southern Oscillation, which is the most important source of rainfall variability from
year to year. Temperatures average 24°–27°C throughout the year and are warmest in May
and coolest in January. Rainfall patterns exhibit high annual and regional variability, with
mean annual rainfall varying from 960 mm in southeast Mindanao to over 4,000 mm in
central Luzon. Most of the country experiences a dry season from December–May and a
cyclonic rainy season from June–November that starts with the arrival of the southwest
monsoon. A second rainy season occurs from December–February on the eastern and
northern coasts with the arrival of the northeast monsoon. El Niño events, which occur
irregularly every 2–7 years, reduce rainfall and weaken cyclone activity. La Niña events,
which occur less frequently, increase heavy rainfall and cyclone activity. (4, 7, 11, 12)
HISTORICAL CLIMATE
Historic climate trends include:
• An increase in average temperature of 0.65°C from 1951–2010, with

greatest increases in northern and southern regions.
• Increased number of “hot” days/decreased number of “cold nights” from
1951–2010.
• Increased number of cyclones during El Niño years and a slight increase of
cyclone passage over Visayas since the 1970s.
• Increased sea surface temperatures of 0.6°– 1°C since 1910, with most
significant warming occurring after the 1970s.
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• Sea level rise of 0.15 meters since 1940.
FUTURE CLIMATE Projected changes in climate by 2050 include:
• Increased temperatures of 1.8°–2.2°C.

• Reduced rainfall from March–May in most areas, making the dry season
drier.
• Increased heavy and extreme rainfall in Luzon and Visayas during the
southwest monsoon, making the wet season wetter, but decreasing rainfall
trends for most of Mindanao.
• Increased frequency of extreme weather events, including days exceeding
35°C, days with less than 2.5 mm of rain, and days exceeding 300 mm of
rain. • Rising sea levels of 0.48–0.65 meters by 2100.
SECTOR IMPACTS AND VULNERABILITIES
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is the dominant
livelihood for the rural poor
and contributes 12 percent
to GDP. Production of
staple crops, such as rice
and corn, and cash crops
(e.g., coconut) will be
negatively impacted by a
changing climate,
especially increased
temperatures, which
accelerate
evapotranspiration rates
and can reduce yields
through heat and water
stress. Rice, wheat, and corn yields will likely decline by 10 percent for every 1°C increase
over 30°C. Droughts are linked to increased pest infestations, especially during El Niño
years. Cyclones and heavy rains bring severe flooding and increase runoff and soil erosion,
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reducing soil fertility, damaging crops, and altering productivity, especially during La Niña
years. From 2006–2013, the Philippines was struck by 75 disasters– mostly cyclones,
tropical storms, and floods– that caused $3.8 billion in accumulated damage and losses to
the agriculture sector. An estimated annual GDP loss of up to 2.2 percent s projected by
2100 due to climate impacts on agriculture. (1, 3, 10, 15)
WATER RESOURCES
Climate variability is already leading to water stress by reducing the quality and
quantity of available water supplies. Droughts reduce water inflows to watersheds and
create shortages for agricultural,
industrial, and municipal users who
account for 82, 10 and 8 percent of
water withdrawals, respectively.
Floods and landslides, a result of
extreme rainfall, increase runoff,
reduce water quality, and damage
water supply infrastructure. Saltwater
intrusion of coastal aquifers affects
water quality in about 25 percent of
coastal municipalities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao; this is expected to increase with
sea level rise. (7, 10, 15)
ENERGY
Climate change could impact
the Philippines' energy supply, as well
as increase demand. Hydropower
production, which contributes 20
percent to the country’s energy
supply, is vulnerable to reduced water
availability from climate change. For
example, in 2010 production dropped
by 20 percent compared to the
previous year due to a drought. Other critical energy infrastructure, like the offshore natural
gas field of Malampaya, is vulnerable to more intense and frequent storms. (2, 11)
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COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS
Coupled with extensive
environmental degradation and
deforestation, climate change threatens
the country’s valuable coastal ecosystems
and fisheries. Increased salinity and sea
levels can damage mangroves while
ocean acidification and rising seas and
sea surface temperatures can destroy fish
and marine habitats, particularly through
coral bleaching (around 95 percent of
corals suffered bleaching during the 2009–10 El Niño). More than 60 percent of the coastal
population’s livelihoods depend on marine resources, and coral reefs and mangroves are
valued at $2 billion and $83 million per year, respectively, for their contributions to fishing,
tourism, and storm protection. (6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14)
URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE
High temperatures, heavy
rainfall and strong winds are likely to
impact the Philippine’s infrastructure
and services in urban and peri-urban
areas, where over 60 percent of the
population resides. Tropical Storm
Ketsana caused $33 million in repairs to
roads and bridges in 2009. Extreme
weather also poses risks to water and sanitation facilities. Rising sea levels
threaten infrastructure and settlements in 25 cities located along the coastline. (16, 17)
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HUMAN HEALTH
Health risks from endemic

vector- and waterborne diseases
(i.e., diarrhea, dengue, malaria) are
expected to worsen with a changing
and more variable climate that
includes increased heavy rains and
rising temperatures, both of which
positively impact mosquito breeding
and survival. Although malaria rates
dropped dramatically over the last
few decades (with 73 percent of the
population living in low transmission areas in 2010), dengue epidemics continue to occur
every 3–4 years and diarrhea was the fifth most common cause of morbidity in 2010.
Observed trends from 1992–2005 show that increases in malaria and dengue are positively
correlated with changes in temperature. For example, 2015 (a strong El Niño year) saw a
60 percent increase in dengue compared to 2014. Severe cyclones and rain events
increase the frequency of floods and rain-induced landslides, which bring loss of life and
livelihoods, crop failure and malnutrition. In 2013, Cyclone Yolande was the most
destructive and strongest storm recorded at landfall, affecting 16 million people, displacing
4.1 million, and causing $2.8 billion in damage. (5, 11, 13, 18, 19)
POLICY CONTEXT
The Philippines began to mainstream climate change considerations into
government policy and planning with the 2009 Climate Change Act, which requires local
government units (LGUs) to draft local climate change action plans (LCCAPs). As of July
2016, only 160 of the total 1,700 LGUs had LCCAPs in place.
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INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
The Climate Change Commission (CCC),
established by the Republic Act 9729 and the Philippine
Climate Change Act of 2009, is the lead policy-making
body on climate change concerns. The CCC is tasked
to coordinate, monitor, and evaluate programs and
actions on climate change. The CCC developed the
National Framework Strategy on Climate Change (NFSCC) in 2010 to consolidate climate
policy across all levels of government and to guide national programs.
SELECTED ONGOING EXPERIENCES The table below summarizes recent and ongoing
donor-funded programs related to climate change adaptation in the Philippines, excluding
those focused-on disaster response and rehabilitation from 2013 Cyclone Haiyan
(Yolanda).
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ACTIVITY: PEOPLE AND CLIMATE
• What are the stressors of climate change to human health?

• Give examples of each based on our local experience.
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MODULE 7

PEOPLE AND CLIMATE

• Understand the effects of climate change. (global and Philippine setting)

WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?

WHAT CAUSES CLIMATE CHANGE?

In 1992, 165 nations signed an international treaty, the UN Framework Convention

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE?

By working to limit the increase in average global average temperatures to 1.5°C,

• Reduce the number of people both exposed to climate-related risks and

WHO IS IMPACTED THE MOST BY CLIMATE CHANGE?

BETWEEN DIFFERENT ETHNICITIES AND CLASSES:

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STOPPING CLIMATE CHANGE?

Businesses also have a responsibility to respect human rights. To meet this

WHY DO WE NEED TO STOP CLIMATE CHANGE?

Because We All Deserve Equal Protection.

Because There Is Nothing To Lose From Acting, And Everything To Gain.

• An increase in average temperature of 0.65°C from 1951–2010, with

FUTURE CLIMATE Projected changes in climate by 2050 include:

• Increased temperatures of 1.8°–2.2°C.

SECTOR IMPACTS AND VULNERABILITIES

Health risks from endemic

• What are the stressors of climate change to human health?

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