Climate change threatens our rights and access to food. Thus it is imperative to secure and defend these rights, especially in the face of climate change impacts, and act urgently to prevent massive starvation and hunger.

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Considering that a large part of the world’s food production relies heavily on climate, expect that climate change will have crucial implications for food security. Changes in extreme weather and climate events are one of the most visible evidence of climate change. Reports show that extreme weather conditions like tropical cyclones and droughts would be more frequent and intense in Southeast Asia. The Philippines, being part of the top ten countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, has been consistently experiencing the dramatic consequences of drought and cyclones on its food production systems.

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Dominant food systems are not only inequitable and form part of the structural causes of hunger, but these systems are also unsustainable and directly contribute to climate change.

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The agricultural sector is one of the significant contributors to greenhouse gases in the country. According to the 2016 Philippine Climate Change Assessment, a total of 17.59 million tons of CO2 was released annually from rice production from 1981 to 2011, while 6.52 million tons of CO2 were emitted from livestock, specifically buffaloes and cattle during the same period. There should be a just transition in addressing mitigation actions in agriculture that considers historical responsibility and just & fair shares of the obligation of countries. Land use or land cover change also exacerbates climate change. In the Philippines, there has been a significant decline in forest cover. Forests are cleared to meet other land needs such as plantations, agriculture expansion, cattle and hog productions, and mining.

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False solutions to climate change further undermine food sovereignty.

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Biofuels are now used globally to help reduce GHG emissions. In the Philippines, Mindanao has become the “cultivation center” of biofuels, mainly sugarcane, cassava, and sweet sorghum for bioethanol production, and coconut, oil palm, and jatropha for production of biodiesel. A large part of the region’s vast agricultural lands is now used in monocrop oil plantations. Local governments, small farmers, and indigenous communities have been lured into biofuel production as a way out of poverty and toward economic prosperity. The utilisation of biofuels is just another false solution that prevents our government from being ambitious in addressing the issue of climate change. If a “solution” involves the conversion of agricultural lands, it will always be a threat to our food security.

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The causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change have profound effects and implications on the rights and well-being of farmers, fishers, agricultural workers, pastoralists.

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In cases where food security is threatened due to the impacts of climate change, it is the agriculture-dependent population that is directly affected, and a large part of it belongs to the poverty sector. These communities do not have the resources and capacity to cope with the risks brought by climate change. Aside from these impacts, our food producers also face the challenges brought by our policies. Many of our policies favour other countries at the expense of our local food producers. These kinds of systems only undermine people’s right to food.