Richard Vidal

For the last four (4) years, our organization’s (CISYESO) advocacy on sustainable consumption and production at the small barangay in Catmon, Malabon City, the Philippines, we have a clear focus on waste and sustainable consumption. From repair and re-use to food waste, from tackling a culture of consumerism to deep-dives on individual waste streams, we know that a wide range of community-led approaches are already being implemented across the City of Malabon in approaching this issue. We’re looking for exemplar projects which demonstrate how communities can work together to tackle the carbon emissions associated with an increasingly wasteful society.

One significant challenge is that the official figures for our country’s greenhouse gas emissions include only those emissions produced within the Philippines’ national borders, ignoring the substantial levels of carbon embedded within the consumer goods and products that we import from overseas. This means that as products move more readily around the planet - the scale of the problem associated with increased consumption (and waste) can be masked by official carbon reduction figures. With almost half of Philippine created emissions existing outside the country, the scope of national climate policy to affect emissions associated with consumption is diminished. This highlights the important potential role of communities in raising awareness of the issue, reducing excessive consumer demand, supporting initiatives that encourage people to think differently about what and how they consume, make more efficient use of resources and stimulate the circular economy.

In this regard, we are not looking to support projects that look at waste energy or energy efficiency in our country. We’re also unable to fund project activities which directly replace statutory responsibilities for example projects looking at waste collection or recycling are unlikely to be eligible to be part of the program.