No place in the future: PMCJ demands anew urgent coal phaseout, just energy transition ahead of UN General Assembly
- Media Communications
- Sep 9
- 5 min read
Quezon City, Philippines — On September 9, as world leaders gather in the United States for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) joins the global call to phase out fossil fuels once and for all.
Coal and other fossil fuels are the biggest drivers of climate change. In 2024, global warming surpassed 1.5 degrees Celsius, marking the hottest year on record and leading to stronger disasters. But all is not lost yet. An immediate and just transition to clean and renewable energy (RE) can still turn this dire situation around.
PMCJ national coordinator Ian Rivera said coal phaseout should get the same urgent attention as the government’s failed flood control projects. The public now closely scrutinizes defective flood-control projects for their utter inability to deter floods.
"While we rightfully fight, ridicule, and condemn corrupt government officials and their anomalous deals with their private contractor accomplices who profit and amass wealth from grossly defective or even ghost flood control projects, we also need the same condemnation of greedy corporations and public officials that enable the continued use of fossil fuels that cause extreme weather in the first place," Rivera said.
In the Philippines, even as roads turn to rivers and floods submerge houses during heavy rains, coal is kept on life support despite the coal moratorium. Under the policy of the Department of Energy (DOE), existing plants with expansion plans, as well as ‘committed’ and ‘indicative’ coal projects with prior permits and approvals, are exempt from the ban, giving coal a toxic lifeline.
Five years after its implementation, a total of 5,224 megawatts (MW) of coal projects are still in the pipeline. Newly appointed DOE Secretary Sharon Garin is taking the coal moratorium on a whole different scale. In April 2025, DOE recalled its confirmation of Atimonan One Energy’s (A1E) exemption, essentially violating the provisions of the coal moratorium.
Within the first 30 days from Garin’s appointment, DOE signed a reissued confirmation to push through with the 1,200 MW coal plant in Atimonan, Quezon. A month later, Garin said in a press conference that the DOE is considering lifting the ban on new coal-fired power plants to allow limited own-use facilities to operate. She mentioned that while the government is pushing for RE, it is not enough to meet the country's power needs, underscoring that baseload power, such as coal, should not be abandoned. In utter disregard of the moratorium, Garin’s maneuver favors Meralco’s Manny Pangilinan, undermining the coal moratorium despite insurers and banks pulling the plug on coal.
For the Philippines to align with the 1.5°C goal and its own emissions reduction target, the 2023 Climate Analytics Report shows that the country must urgently phase out coal by 2035. The report highlights that a complete phaseout is feasible by bringing out the full potential of renewables in the country, and will also benefit the people and the planet. However, the loopholes and u-turns in the government’s policy remain profit-driven. PMCJ stressed that coal’s persistence shows a failure of leadership, lamenting that environmental destruction is not the only thing at stake here.
The Philippines accounted for less than 1% of global emissions, yet poor and vulnerable Filipinos suffer the worst impacts. Communities get sick, lose their livelihood, and pay high electricity prices. Ending coal would mean ending decades of harm experienced by communities living near coal plants. Phasing out coal would bring justice to Filipinos who have suffered from its ill effects.
PMCJ has documented communities living around the coal plant in Mauban, Quezon, suffering from high electricity prices, breathing in coal fly ash through the air, and suffering coal plant workplace accidents and deaths, the latter kept quiet by paying off the victims' families. Worse, the municipality of Atimonan in Quezon is also under threat, as the A1E coal plant is poised to rise.
PMCJ Luzon coordinator Erwin Puhawan said, "The coal fight in Atimonan has been ongoing for a long time, and with the DOE's reaffirmation of the proposed plant's committed capacity status, they are essentially disregarding the decade-long resistance the people of Atimonan put up against this dirty and environmentally destructive power plant. We have witnessed how coal plants destroy and silence communities, particularly in Mauban and Pagbilao, and we will continue to fight so Atimonan will not be subjected to the same.”
In Toledo, Cebu, the situation is similarly alarming. Residents told PMCJ about the destruction to their livelihoods and health caused by the Therma Visayas Incorporated (TVI) coal plant, such as loss of fishing yields, pollution in their waters, illnesses caused by the coal plant, and the local government's harassment and denial of basic services to residents who resist the environmental crimes sanctioned in Toledo. TVI is even preparing for the construction of its 150-MW expansion slated for completion in 2027.
To supposedly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Quezon Power proposed co-firing ammonia with coal at its Mauban plant in 2023. This drew massive condemnation from environmental groups, who reasoned that it was more costly and more harmful to the environment. PMCJ Senior Energy Officer Larry Pascua stated that co-firing other materials and fossil gas are false solutions to the problem of emissions, hindering the complete transition to clean energy.
PMCJ Visayas Coordinator Estela Vasquez said, "These coal plants have to be retired and phased out as soon as possible. We know the extent to which coal poisons communities. In Naga, coal ash has been a long-standing problem for residents, to the point that the dust reaches their homes, posing a risk to the community's health. Coal and fossil fuels destroy not just the environment but also people’s health.”
Fisherfolk have also seen a significant decrease in their catch since the coal plant was built in their area. Raquel Espiritu, President of Climate Justice, Healthy Air, and Green Environment for Naga (CHANGE Naga), recalls a time when fishing could support an entire family. But now, fisherfolk struggle to make ends meet with each catch. For their part, Raquel and the Naga community have been active in protesting and complaining about destructive companies and the government that seems to support them.
Rivera called for urgent delivery of climate finance for the immediate and complete transition to renewable energies and for reparations for all communities affected by dirty coal and fossil fuel plants. He lamented that governments and greedy corporations have profited from dirty fuels for far too long.
"We need to make clear to the leaders of the world that a liveable future for the planet can only be possible when the insatiable greed that controls and powers institutions of death and destruction is entirely eliminated," he concluded. ###
FOR INQUIRIES:
Christian John P. Argallon
Junior Media and Communications Officer
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice
Sheila Abarra
Senior Media and Communications Officer
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice
Viber:+639916692356