How Quezon City Changed After Declaring Climate Emergency

By |2025-02-05T09:52:42+01:00February 3rd 2025|Resilient Cities and Climate|

In 2019, Quezon City, Philippines, declared a climate emergency, recognising the need for urgent action. Mayor Joy Belmonte highlights the city’s bold efforts to mitigate risks and build resilience.

The Philippines, an archipelagic Southeast Asian nation with a population of approximately 110 million, is among the world’s most disaster-prone countries. It frequently experiences intense typhoons, severe flooding, and extreme heat.

Quezon City – the country’s most populous city and Metropolitan Manila’s largest city – is not immune to these threats. Having lived here most of my life and now serving as Mayor since 2019, I witnessed firsthand how 3.2 million citizens are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the climate crisis. With stationary energy—emissions from buildings across commercial, industrial, and residential sectors—as its top source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the city is driving the shift to sustainable energy through initiatives like solarising city-owned facilities and by promoting energy efficiency and conservation practices across sectors.

Climate Emergency in Quezon City

Typhoon Ketsana in 2009 opened my eyes to the increasing perils of climate change. Ketsana caused devastating floods across Manila, leaving people to navigate flooded streets on makeshift barges made from floating garbage. Livelihoods were disrupted, and hundreds of Filipinos were injured or tragically lost their lives. The worsening climate crisis further exacerbated climate disasters, and I realised we cannot continue business as usual.

In response to the threats brought about by climate change, our city made history in 2019 by becoming the first local government in the country to declare a Climate Emergency. We realise that to stimulate progress, we must step up, set ambitious goals, and lead the charge. With stationary energy as our city’s top source of emissions, we acknowledge that sustainable energy is key to building a liveable city. From solarising city-owned facilities to enjoining residents to be energy champions through educational campaigns, we are determined to drive transformative change and be a pioneer in climate action in the country and beyond.

Why Sustainable Energy?

Across two GHG inventories conducted in 2016 and 2021, the stationary energy sector remained the leading contributor, accounting for 60 per cent of the city’s total emissions. This trend reinforces the city’s need to shift from fossil fuel-based energy to more sustainable sources, particularly for the commercial, industrial, and residential sectors.

Guided by this inventory and anchored on extensive stakeholder engagement, we updated our Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) with technical assistance from C40, a network of mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis. Thoughtfully aligned with global and national commitments and tailored to the unique needs of our city, this plan serves as our roadmap to achieving our ambitious goal — reduce emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050. Priority areas outlined in the Enhanced LCCAP include the transition to sustainable energy, in particular strategies to integrate renewable energy, improve energy efficiency and energy savings, and promote sustainable mobility equitably and inclusively.

Mainstreaming Sustainable Energy in Quezon City

Since we put the Enhanced LCCAP into motion in 2021, our sustainable energy programmes – particularly on solarisation, energy efficiency and conservation, and sustainable mobility – have achieved significant milestones.

For instance, several key city-owned buildings, such as the City Hall, are now powered by solar energy, with plans to install more panels. Apart from government facilities, 50 public schools are being installed with solar panels. These installations are part of our goal to solarise all viable city-owned facilities by 2050. Beyond reducing GHG emissions, this initiative aims to lower electricity costs and address increasing energy demands.

In addition, lights in public libraries, city-owned hospitals, and key city government buildings have been upgraded to LED technology. Furthermore, we are mainstreaming energy conservation among households by distributing LED bulbs and conducting community orientations on energy-saving practices. We are also amending our Green Building Code to raise energy efficiency performance standards for both new and existing buildings. This code will also promote medium- to large-scale renewable energy installations by developing attractive incentive schemes, especially for high energy-consuming players in the private sector. This will ultimately cultivate a collaborative environment where the private sector participates in our efforts to address climate change.

Moreover, Quezon City has made considerable progress in promoting sustainable transportation. Eight electric buses are currently operating as part of our free bus ride programme, ensuring greater mobility and reducing transportation costs for citizens. This is part of our plan to transition to a fully electric fleet of city-owned vehicles, including service vehicles, ambulances, and police cars. Lastly, we installed over 200 kilometres of bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks, and parklets to encourage active mobility.

Through these programmes, we will be able to generate good, green jobs and reduce energy costs for the city, businesses, and households. Not only will we be able to significantly reduce our GHG emissions, but citizens can also collectively experience enhanced social, economic, and environmental well-being.

Engage All Sectors of Society for Concrete Action

Overall, Quezon City has achieved major strides in inclusive climate action with bold initiatives in renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, and sustainable mobility, among others. Our collective impact has been far-reaching, creating a domino effect where even small establishments are inspired to adopt sustainable practices and play their part in the push for a greener future.

However, the journey is far from complete. Just last year, Quezon City faced a series of extreme weather events – from dangerously hot temperatures to towering floods. These challenges serve as a stark reminder that our work is not yet done and that climate action must be treated with utmost urgency. If we continue with business as usual, the future will remain dark, especially for vulnerable countries and cities like ours.

Fortunately, it is not too late to turn things around and build a world that is more just, sustainable, and equitable for generations to come. Regardless of whether you come from a developing or developed country, transformative change is achievable through leading by example – if we engage all sectors of society and turn ambitious plans into concrete action. I hope that other government leaders will be part of this collective effort.

Ma. Josefina "Joy" G. Belmonte
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