Rappler and Oxfam launch climate change platform for voters

This is a press release from Oxfam: 

With two weeks to go before the Philippine national elections, Oxfam has teamed up with Rappler, a pioneering social news network, to bring Filipinos information about the most crucial Climate Change issues and where each Presidential candidate stands.

The website went live on Earth Day, April 22, soon after more than 170 countries, including the Philippines, signed the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement in New York City.

The website serves as a Climate Change information and education hub for voters, as well as an online venue for netizens to discuss and act on climate change through the 8-day #GoGreen challenge.

“The next leaders of the land must set a vision to mitigate the worsening effects of climate change. Our leaders should help build climate-resilient communities that will protect the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable Filipinos,” said Shelley Honeychurch, acting country director of Oxfam in the Philippines.

“As we have seen with the current supercharged El Nino, which is affecting more than 3.5 million families in the country and sparking protests due to widespread hunger in Mindanao, the next administration should also act to support farmers and fisherfolk adapt to this phenomenon that is predicted to become even more intense over the coming years,” Honeychurch said.

In addition to tracking candidates’ positions on key climate change issues, the campaign will help advocates hold whoever wins the elections to her or his promises.

The key issues highlighted in the website are: resettlement of Typhoon Yolanda-affected communities, Disaster Preparedness, Sustainable Livelihoods, Climate Finance, the Paris Agreement, and Women in Disaster Risk Reduction. (For more details about each issue, click here.)

“It’s time to make climate change an election issue for the 3rd most vulnerable country in the world,” said Rappler CEO & Executive Editor Maria Ressa. “Working with Oxfam, we hope this becomes another example of how information can create communities of action.”

The Philippines is one of the countries that is most at risk from the harsh impacts of Climate Change. The country ranked first among the countries hit by the most number of major climate-related disasters in the period of 2000 to 2015.

A 2015 global study by Pew Research Center revealed that Filipinos are among those who believe climate change is a very serious problem, with 72% saying they are “very concerned” about climate change. – Rappler.com