Study: Philippines is a carbon sink

By: Patricia Faustino on December 7th, 2009

In contrast to global trends, the Philippines registered a drop of 81 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions in the previous decade as more trees absorbed pollution coming from the energy sector, according to a report released in November.

The use of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal for energy consumption, is responsible for 55 per cent of the total emissions, the report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

According to the report, greenhouse gases from agricultural activities accounted for 29 per cent of emissions, while waste contributed nine per cent and industrial processes made up seven per cent of the total emissions of 126,878 kilotons.

Activities in the so-called land use change and forestry sector, however, have absorbed 107,387 kilotons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Even though greenhouse gas emissions went up, offsets from higher vegetation reduced the country’s total emissions to 19,491 kilotons made up mainly of methane and nitrous oxide gases, said the report, which is based on 1994-2000 data.

“What this is telling us is that our forests, our biomass that’s there, is an important resource. It’s an asset. It actually helps offset our other emissions as a country,” said Fr. Jett Villarin, science adviser of the Manila Observatory based at the Ateneo de Manila University and team leader of the inventory report.

The figure represents a significant drop of 81 per cent from the previous figure of 100,740 kilotons of greenhouse gas emissions cited in the previous report submitted in 1999, based on 1990-1994 data.

Isagani Serrano, president of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), described the results as “counter-intuitive” for bucking the trend in other developing nations, where carbon emissions are increasing along with economic growth.

The DENR commissioned the PRRM and the Manila Observatory to prepare the report, which was presented at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati.

According to the report, the Philippines is a “net sink” of 35,113.5 kilotons of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas coming from human activities that scientists have deemed responsible for global climate change. This means the country absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits into the atmosphere.

Not comparable

The report represents the 2nd national communication of the Philippines as part of its obligation as a member country of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is holding a landmark conference in Copenhagen in December.

Fr. Villarin cautioned against making comparisons between the two reports however, saying “in 1994, the initial report was used with old data, and old emission factors. That’s why we’re comparing apples and oranges. In fact, we may have been a sink then also, once we apply what we’ve done in 2000 to 1994.”

The latest figures are consistent with previous findings from the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) of the DENR that the country’s forest cover is growing due to the establishment of tree plantations and the substantial decrease in the area covered by logging concessions.

According to FMB statistics, the Philippines had a forest cover of 10.5 million hectares in 1969, when the first forest inventory was done. The figure dropped significantly to 6.5 million hectares in the second forest inventory in 1987, mainly as a result of commercial logging activities during the Martial Law years. In the latest forest mapping activity in 2003, however, the country’s forest cover had risen slightly to 7.2 million hectares.

“Many things were underestimated in the initial communication, I think agro-forestry, upland farms,” said Fr. Villarin, adding that many grassland areas had been replanted with coconut trees and other trees in 2000. “When you do that you bring in carbon,” he noted, resulting in a higher absorption of carbon dioxide emissions.

“When I see the 2000 inventory, I see that as the main driver – the conversion of what used to be wasted landscape now being used for economic reasons, for business. But this is not necessarily reforestation,” he added. “There can be deforestation happening, I’m sure there is, that’s also offset by these other things that are regrowing.” – Pia Faustino and Yasmin Arquiza, GMANews.TV