PCCI: Decarbonization bill to affect food security the most

The Philippines’ largest business organization on Saturday called on the country’s leaders to adopt a balanced and rational approach to its policies on decarbonization as it cautioned on the harmful impact of overly stringent measures on the economy.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) raised anew its concerns over a bill aimed at putting a cap on the greenhouse gas emissions of certain sectors, among others.

“This legislation represents a bold step toward sustainability and responsibility. But it should not come at a cost to businesses and to the economy as a whole,” PCCI chair and director for energy and power George Barcelon said in a statement.

The PCCI said House Bill No. 7705’s cost was most pronounced in the food supply chain since the agriculture and food industries would be required to have decarbonization targets.

“This will eventually affect the food production sector and threaten further the country’s already fragile food security situation,” said PCCI, which cited Philippine Chamber of Food Manufacturers director Joseph Fabul’s position.

The cement and construction industries also shared the same apprehension, according to the PCCI.

The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (Cemap) relies heavily on energy and power, which the bill also covered. Cemap said these two make up 40 percent of their production and logistics costs.

“Compliance options will come at a heavy price. Even now, the cement industry is already suffering from cement imports from Vietnam, where production and cost of power are subsidized by their government,” Cemap executive director Cirilo Pestaño said in the same statement.

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PCCI’s energy committee officers David Chua and Carlos Aboitiz noted the standards set in the bill were for first world countries and not aligned with the realities in third world economies.

Chua and Aboitiz said the Philippines was a small country consuming small amounts of energy and produced little amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. They said the country’s output was three times less than the global average in carbon dioxide emissions per capita.

The PCCI said decarbonization targets needed to be anchored on actual data gathered from various industries and that policies must go through cost-benefit analysis and benchmarking. INQ