The Regional Development Council (RDC) 2 and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) 2 approved the conduct of the benchmarking survey during their joint meeting held on June 23, 2015 at the JAPI Travellers Hotel in Cauayan City.

During her presentation of the proposal, RDC 2 Acting Chair and NEDA Regional Director MaryAnne ER. Darauay said that the carbon footprint is a very powerful tool to understand the impact of personal behavior on global warming, which is primarily caused by huge emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

“By knowing our carbon footprint, we will be able to understand how our daily activities disturb the Earth, which will allow us to identify ways to protect our natural resources,” said Dir. Darauay, who also sits as Chairperson of the Regional Committee on Sustainable Development (RCSD) which came up with the proposed benchmarking.

“When we travel by car or motorcycle, the engine burns fuel which creates a certain amount of CO2. When we use electricity, CO2 is again emitted. Even the production of the plastic bags we use everyday emits this greenhouse gas,” she added.

Dir. Darauay also reported that urban greening is being implemented at the RGC, to address the lack of green urban forest areas or trees in the Center. In order to give the initiative a stronger push, she says, it is important to benchmark the carbon footprint of each agency locator within the RGC to establish a baseline.

“This survey will assess the individual contribution of the locators to carbon emission and to find out which among the consumption categories of travel, power, food, or waste recycling is carbon-intensive,” Dir. Darauay further said. “The survey results will also help the RDC 2 and the local government units to develop strategies to address climate change within our region.”

To calculate the carbon footprint, the estimated carbon emission factors shall be applied to each major category, focusing on areas of impact where the staff or individuals have some direct or indirect ability to influence consumption behavior.

Compared with other countries, the Philippines is not a major carbon emitter, but what is alarming is that the country’s CO2 emission has increased from 0.81 metric tons per capita in 2006 to 0.92 in 2010, as per world CO2 emission from the consumption of fossil fuels.

“This survey will show us that the more we consume, the greater is our carbon footprint,” the RDC 2 Chair averred.#