THE GREENPEACE sea level-rise maps have made it easier for people to understand what I am talking about when I do my spiels on climate change. These have also become part of our “Simple Lang, Save the Planet” campaign, which strives to educate and empower Pinoys from different walks of life to be part of the solution. 

The campaign combines public outreach (school, village, and office tours), media (television commercials, print ads, and radio spiels) and new media (online petition and email groups) to introduce and amplify energy consciousness in Filipinos.

We also employ volunteers whom we call Climate Communicators for tours and exhibits. These volunteers include celebrities, students, architects, teachers, bankers, and homemakers. Each of them has gone beyond unplugging or switching off lights to reduce energy consumption and are now helping spread the word to the rest of the Philippines. Which is essentially this: A fundamental change in the way the world uses energy must take place within this decade in order to make a real difference in the fight to save the climate. To avert the worst impacts of climate change, the world must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2050.

This is possible through an energy revolution, which requires a massive uptake of renewable energy combined with aggressive energy efficiency measures.  An energy revolution will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions emitted in the atmosphere and pave the way for cleaner energy that ensures our country’s energy security and independence as well as a safe environment and future for everyone.

Now all that can leave a newcomer to green issues going, huh? Actually, when we began designing the campaign, we started with the premise that each person has his or her own reason for supporting any advocacy or initiative.  So we developed climate-change talking points based on what we think will grab our audience's attention. For example, for the youth, we emphasize that the impacts that we are now experiencing is but the onset of climate change.  Which, if not mitigated, will have the younger generation bearing the effects of more severe impacts.  This is an injustice that the youth should not allow, especially if the decision makers of the present can do something about it.

For parents, we point out that the future generation, including their children, will bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change if nothing is done about it now.  But we are also careful to note that helping the environment will not have only future benefits, but can have profound impacts in the present. Turning energy conscious and becoming efficient in the use of energy, for instance, may mean lower power bills. 

For school administrators, we tell them that electricity savings can result to the reallocation of resources to purchasing of books, improvement of facilities, salaries of faculty, and maintenance. We also tell them that our materials can be used for a public awareness campaign or can be included in the curriculum. 

For older audience, we ask them how it was before compared to the present.  Is it hotter now?  Is there a change in storm patterns or severity? And finally for legislators or local government units,  we note that landmark policies and initiatives on climate change adaptation and mitigation are legacies that will be remembered by their constituents.

HONESTLY, IF some people drink coffee to jolt them from an uneventful afternoon or chocolate to satisfy their sweet tooth, I need to engage with the youth from time to time to keep my creative juices flowing and to shed the cynicism I sometimes feel when talking to a politician.

Leadership and political will from our legislators can go a long way in the fight for our basic right to live in a clean and healthy environment.  But the reality is, it is not often that one comes across lawmakers who have these qualities. As a result, policies that are supposed to safeguard the environment and the health of the Filipino people are sometimes sat on (like the Renewable Energy Bill that has been pending for almost 12 years now) or are so diluted that they become ineffective.  There have been legislators who have supported certain initiatives of Greenpeace, but it is a constant struggle to keep them involved and engaged.  

It has also been a challenge to lure ordinary people into discussions about climate change. And it doesn’t even matter if you’re talking to an urban or rural audience.   Urban areas, although more up to date to what's happening globally, have such fast-paced lifestyles that you need to jolt people harder so that they would take notice of you. Urbanites are bombarded with information that campaigners have to make sure that the issue is not drowned out by all the noise. In the rural areas, meanwhile, the challenges beyond the language gaps include competing with concerns like where dinner for that day is going to come from (if any is coming at all), land tenure, and armed conflict. Provincial communities have to be reminded that climate change impacts will aggravate these concerns.

Yet there have been instances where members of remote communities have left me with much hope. Once, I was invited to facilitate a basic discussion on climate change to members of the Youth Advocates for Peace (YAP) in Mindanao. I saw how much they value their culture, heritage, and the environment. These aspects are clearly integrated with who they are and what they believe in.  Some of them live in impoverished communities or are caught in the middle of an armed struggle. But this does not limit them from taking a stand for their future and making a difference.  The older generation, especially our government officials, can definitely learn from them.

At the very least, I came away from that event inspired, energized, and even more at peace with the career I have chosen for myself. With Greenpeace, I need not compromise my passion, beliefs, and my future, unlike many of my peers.  Greenpeace strengthened how I see my place in this planet — that I am part of my environment and that whatever I do to this only home that we have will eventually affect me and the ones I care about.

For more details, log on to www.greenpeace.org.ph or email your questions at info@ph.greenpeace.org.