Introduction

There is no question that the continued buildup of greenhouse gases will cause the earth
to warm. However, there is considerable debate about what is the sensible policy response to this
problem. Economists, weighing cost and damages, advocate a balanced mitigation program that
starts slowly and gradually becomes more severe over the century. Scientists and
environmentalists, in contrast, advocate more extreme near term mitigation policies.

Which approach is followed will have a large bearing on economic growth. The balanced
economic approach to the problem will address climate change with minimal reductions in
economic growth. The more aggressive the near term mitigation program, however, the greater
the risk that climate change will slow long term economic growth. It should be understood that
climate is not a stable unchanging phenomena even when left to natural forces alone. There have
been several major glacial periods in just the last million years.

Much of this modern pre-industrial age period has been significantly colder than the
climate in the last 20,000 years. Ice covered most of Canada and Scandinavia and frozen tundra
extended well into New Jersey and the Great Plains in the United States. These cold periods have
been quite hostile, discouraging humans from living in much of the northern parts of the northern
hemisphere.

One can easily check on the global temperature by taking samples from the Vostok Ice
Corein Antartica. Now, these natural climate changes have had major impacts on past

civilizations causing dramatic adaptations and sometimes wholesale migrations. Climate change
is not new. Human induced climate change is simply an added disturbance to this natural
variation. The nutshell of the debate about climate change comes from the warnings from
scientists and others that give the impression that human induced climate change is an immediate
threat to society. Millions of people might be vulnerable to health effects , crop production might
fall in the areas closer to the poles , water supplies might dwindle , rainfall levels might fall in
arid regions , extreme events will grow exponentially, and between 2030 percent of species will
risk extinction .

Even worse (if you want the absolute worse case scenario possible), there may be
catastrophic events such as the melting of Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets causing severe sea
level rise, which would inundate hundreds of millions of people . Proponents argue there is no
time to waste. Unless greenhouse gases are cut dramatically today, economic growth and well
being may be at risk .

So how does climate change affect the Philippines one may ask. Well, it does heavy
damage to the coral reefs. Said coral reefs are the habitats of marine life breeding, which is
important to fisherman. With the onset of climate change influencing migrations from rural to
urban areas in search of employment. Its easy enough to witness the effects of climate change.
Given that the Philippines is an archipelago; an island country. Now one can think, what about
the farms? Doesnt everything in the Philippines grow on the same soil? No, it doesnt.

Climate change affects the humidity and water levels as well as the Ph levels within the
soil. Enough of a change and certain crops wont grow year round. Fortunately, this isnt as big

of a problem with the onset of globalization and the importation of various crops, such as
Asparugus. However, this might prove a problem since seeds might drift out of controlled
farming environments and into the local ecosystem and cause all sort of unusual effects that
could be for ill.

Now, here are a few questions that immediately come to mind when thinking about climate
change and its relationship to Philippine economic development.
1

What effect does climate change have on common Philippine crops?

Whats the most recent policy of the Philippine Gov. Concerning climate change?

What kind of imported crops are we talking about?

What sort of ramifications would this kind of ecosystem damage have on economic
development?

What benefits could be gained from the various methods of adaptation?

Given that there is a rural->urban migration that is partly caused by the onset of climate
change, are the Cities of the Philippines really developed enough to handle such a migration?

What effect does climate change have on the fisheries?

What effect does it have on tourism?

Do foreign aid programs exist, and if so; what are they?

10 Is climate change all that big of an issue for Philippine Economic development?

Discussion
In finding the answers to the objectives, we have found that climate change doesnt really
have any noteworth effect on common Philippine crops; such as sweet potatoes and corn.

However, it does have a noteworthy effect on rice, due to the nature of the environment in which
rice is harvested.

The Philippine governments Climate Change Commission has the following listed as
their mission; To take the lead in the development and mainstreaming of evidence-based climate
adaptation and mitigation policies through optimum coordination among key stakeholders
towards achieving a climate-resilient and climate-smart Philippines with healthy, safe,
prosperous, and self-reliant communities. The CCC boasts a multitude of programs centered on
both adaptation and migration.

The Philippines imports a massive amount of rice on a yearly basis. Given that rice is the staple
grain of SE Asia, its easy to see the relevence of the crop. Additionally, various strains of corn,
tomatoes, and greens are imported as well. However, given the hardiness of those crops, theres
not much worry as to the effects of climate change on them. It would appear that rice is the one
major crop with

The damage to the economic development of the country, should the state of nature disrupted to
the point of the ecosystem being changed severely; after all, just look at how Hannibal destroyed
Carthage through an act of ancient ecological warfare by salting the fields in the farmlands.
Theres the reason why adaptation is necessary. With the CCCs participation in the multination
Project Climate: Twin Phoniex; the Philippines now has a multitude of contingency plans in case
of any worsening of the current situation. Said plans include the likes of a flood map plan.

The Philippines boasts among the most densely populated cities in the planet. Manila is packed,
and yet it functions quite well as one of the hubs of SE Asia. Cebu City and Davao are also doing
well for themselves. Although squatters exist, theyll become a thing of the past given time.
Given that the Philippines development seems to put more focus on education in the upcoming
years, the general education level of the common man should rise. Granted, the cities are capable
of supporting this kind of influx, given the culture.

Climate change causes various aquatic grounds to become unbalanced. It damages coral reefs,
which are the breeding grounds for many breeds of fish. This can affect the future, as Philippine
fisheries produce and export canned fish and seafood across the globe. However, fish farms do
exist, but these cannot hold as many as the free ranged ocean can.

Barring a worse case alarmist scenario, the effect of climate change on tourism should remain
minimal. While an economically developing country like the Philippines does benefit from
tourism, the Philippines has half the country noted as a very unsafe place for tourists to visit.

Foreign Aid programs include the aforementioned Twin Phoeniex, as well as the likes of USAid,
the Roman Catholic Church, and the US Peace Corps. While these programs are often to aid in
adaptation and in raising awareness of the issue of climate change, it does seem that government
donations arent that effective.

While it would seem that climate change is an issue to take into account, theres also the fact that
the Earths climate fluctuates; as proven by the Vostok Ice Core. Its a given that the
temperatures going to rise and fall over the course of time. However, mankinds industries have
added to making climate change more and more erratic. But, as of this moment; there is no proof
of climate change being a prominent and urging issue that requires immediate attention as
opposed to the likes of poverty, human trafficking, and/or corruption.

Sources:
http://climate.gov.ph/index.php/projects/adaptation/project-climate-twin-phoenix
http://www.nber.org/papers/w14132
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?
q=cache:http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_agri.asp
http://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-threatens-philippines/a-17448816
https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4_wg2_full_report.pdf
http://irri.org/news/hot-topics/rice-and-climate-change
https://www.prageru.com/courses/environmental-science/climate-change-our-biggest-problem