Findings: Climate Change is Real

The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as the “change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer.” Climate change may be “due to natural internal processes or external forcings such as modulations of the solar cycles, volcanic eruptions and persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.” This definition was derived from the observations of the scientific community through their research.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which the Philippines signed on 12 June 1992 and ratified on 2 August 1994, has adopted a more nuanced definition, emphasizing the influence of human activities. It defines climate change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.”¹⁰⁵ Philippine statutes have adopted a definition that reflects the one provided by the IPCC. These statutes define climate change as “a change in climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period typically decades or longer, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.”

The reports of the IPCC provide unequivocal evidence of global warming. The particular indicators are changes in the atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and frequency of extreme weather and climate events. Over the past several decades, these changes have been at levels unseen in centuries to millennia, and are changing at rates unprecedented in the last 2000 years.