Legarda: It’s Our Duty To Ensure Healthy Environment For Future Generations

June 7, 2015

Senator Loren Legarda today renewed her call for humanity to uphold the concept of inter-generational responsibility—the responsibility of every generation to ensure that succeeding generations will continue to enjoy a balanced and healthful ecology.

Legarda, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, echoed United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s call on World Environment Day (June 5) to “increase the quality of life for all people without increasing environmental degradation, and without compromising the resource needs of future generations.”

“The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says that half of the seven billion human population live in urban areas and account for 75 percent of global energy consumption as well as 80 percent of global carbon emissions. The World Health Organization revealed that about eight million people worldwide die each year because of poor air quality. These facts alone should be enough to make us realize that we are going against our duty as stewards of the environment,” Legarda explained.

She also noted that the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations in the air has been causing oceans to become more acidic, threatening marine organisms and ecosystems, which, in turn, gravely affect fishing, tourism and other marine-related human activities.

“The effects of our exploitative activities are evident in the increased frequency and volume of natural hazards that turn into disasters and that cause disruptions in our lives, and even loss of lives. We have to do something now. We must correct the misconception that natural resources are infinite. Our extractive and consumptive practices must change. Greed must cease,” Legarda stressed.

The Senator highlighted the need to enforce environmental laws such as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Renewable Energy Act, Environmental Awareness and Education Act, Climate Change Act, and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, among many others.

“Our laws will only be effective if we all work together to implement and comply with these measures. If we can properly dispose and manage solid waste, we can already contribute to making our environment cleaner, safer and healthier,” she said.

“Inter-generational responsibility needs to move from being an idea to a plan of concrete and urgent action. If we start today, there is no promise that we will be lucky enough to see the undoing of the damage on our environment within our lifetime, but at least, we leave our world with the gift of hope for a better, kinder future,” Legarda concluded.