According to the 2019 Global Peace Index, The Philippines was found to rank the highest among the most threatened countries affected by dangers caused by climate change.
47% of the Philippine population belongs to areas that are greatly exposed to threats including earthquakes, tsunami, floods, tropical cyclones and drought, the study reveals.
“Environmental risks of climate change and resource scarcity had the highest likelihood and impact, out of 5 risk categories including economic, geopolitical, societal, technological and environmental threats, as estimated by the World Economic Forum,” it said.
It was mentioned that 971 million people are vulnerable to the climate crisis due to the possibility of experiencing extreme weather conditions.
The study revealed climate change can possibly and “indirectly increase the likelihood of violent conflict” through resource availability, livelihood security, and migration.
There has been news on the urge of declaring climate emergency in the Philippines including an interview with ANC Philippines, Tony La Viña, acting executive director of the Manila Observatory, who said: “it’s important to declare an emergency, we have a window of more or less 10 years in which we can try to avert the effects.”
It must also be taken into account that over 740 local governments in 16 countries all over the world have already declared a climate emergency, according to the Climate Mobilization group.
(ALSO READ: Hundreds of Governments are declaring Climate Crisis as a Global emergency)
After North Korea, the Philippines was ranked as the second least peaceful country in the Asia-Pacific.
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