Women in the Midst of the Climate Crisis

A mother is seen carrying her child while doing household chores in this photo taken in 2019. Photo by Mark Z. Saludes

Note: This article first came out of the environmental media outfit Oeconomedia. on November 4, 2021. It also appeared in Licas News and the World Mission Magazine.

I had the opportunity to talk about women and climate in the Philippines in a COP26 side event through the Climate Café held at Glasgow Kelvin College. I mainly recalled my experience a few years ago, while working in a large-scale Haiyan Recovery Program, covering Housing, Health, Sanitation, Livelihood, Education, and DRR. The program spanned seven municipalities on the island of Panay. Leading the performance and accountability team, I have seen firsthand what challenges women had to go through to access support. But that is only the tip of the iceberg of women’s problems relating to climate change. 

Veganism, the Climate Crisis, and a Multi-Billion-Dollar Opportunity

The good news is, there is a climate solution that we can readily be part of, right now. We don’t have to wait to make the change. https://www.blogto.com/city/2019/01/vegans-protesters-block-toronto-intersection-protest-climate-change/

Note: This is an article I wrote for the Climate Reality 11th Hour Column at the Manila Bulletin. The published article is slightly edited, but in this blog, I’m posting my original article in full. Click here for the published piece with the Manila Bulletin.

A few years ago, this statement came splashed all over newspapers, magazines, and social media: “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use, and water use.” It came from Joseph Poore, an Oxford researcher. Poore looked at the overall impact of our food systems on the environment.

From climate crisis to climate justice

On Monday, I was a panelist at the United Edge online learning event on climate justice. This is my second time to be invited by United Edge. In November last year, I spoke on the climate breakdown and had a really interesting exchange with participants, many of whom were development workers who were working on justice. The Monday event was sort of a sequel for that one, as it pursues the idea of climate justice. The online learning session was attended by 110 participants from many countries. It was a pleasure seeing again my friends Matt Kletzing and Daniel Bevan who founded United Edge and sharing the screen with Doni Marmer and Shikar Agarwal as fellow panelists with Will Midwinter as host, and Grace Tan-Johannes and Sagar Kafle as moderators.

Heal us, heal the planet

The event poster was grabbed from the VegFest Facebook page.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being back at VegFest Pilipinas as a panelist. It is the fifth year of VegFest and the first ever online. The preparations and actual broadcast were impressive, and I congratulate Vegans of Manila for yet again another successful festival.

I was the climate speaker at the very first Vegfest four years ago and I’m glad that now, there are more environmentalists practicing veganism. Also, the topic in the panel I am in this year is really very important, given that climate change has been wreaking havoc on my country, with one super typhoon coming after another; the pandemic still roaring, and health issues becoming a real concern for many during quarantine.

Deep diving and the lessons of a pandemic

Image grabbed from https://www.simpleltc.com/texas-mco-transition-3-important-things-we-learned-in-week-1/

This is a piece I wrote for an application for a certain program. I was restricted to 500 words. Funny how much harder it is to say less when you are restricted. Much apropos for #pandemicfeels.

I don’t swim but was lucky to work on a project rehabilitating coral reefs in a Haiyan-affected coastal town in the Philippines. As monitoring lead, I had the opportunity to spot-check the area with a marine biologist. I was a bit scared but was actually more excited at the thought of diving into unfamiliar territory.