SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – As the world counts down to the 21st United Nations climate change conference (COP21) in Paris in December, Filipino netizens and celebrities pledge online to do their share in combatting climate change.
Dubbed #NowPH (Not on Our Watch Philippines), the Twitter chat on Thursday, October 29, highlighted the campaign to gather at least one million voices calling on countries to act on climate change issues to prevent global warming from reaching 2 degrees Celsius. (READ: #COP21 climate action: 1 million voices from PH to Paris)
The conversation made at least 136 million impressions online, according to Rappler’s data analytics tool, Reach. “Impressions” refer to the number of people who have seen the hashtag on Twitter.
When #NowPH kicked off on October 6, #NowPH racked up 47,684,128 impressions on Twitter.
The campaign is an initiative of the National Youth Commission (NYC) and the Climate Change Commission (CCC), with support from USAID Building Low Emission Alternatives to Develop Economic Resilience and Sustainability Project (B-LEADERS). MovePH, Rappler’s civic engagement arm, is a social media partner.
#NowPH’s reach
Let’s take a look at some of the key insights on the recent #NowPH conversation.
The whole-day engagement on Thursday generated more than 7,000 tweets (excluding retweets). More than 2,000 unique authors joined the conversation using the official hashtag.
#NowPH pillars and ambassadors – including personalities from various fields: artists Julie Anne San Jose and Derrick Monasterio, and Ateneo athletes Alyssa Valdez and Kiefer Ravena – joined the chat.
Senator Bam Aquino and National Youth Commission (NYC) Commissioner Dingdong Dantes also weighed in on the discussion as the biggest influencers.
With their wide following, the accounts of San Jose, Monasterio, Valdez, Ravena, Aquino, Rappler, and MovePH were the conversation’s most influential broadcasters.
Dantes, MovePH editor Voltaire Tupaz, advocacy group DAKILA, and NowPH‘s official twitter account were the biggest linkers or accounts that helped in bringing in unconnected communities.
Call to action
Like other developing countries, the Philippines has a big stake in the climate talks, stressed #NowPH pillar Renee Karunungan, who observes and writes about the negotiatons.
. @MovePH Because we did not cause climate change but we are suffering from it. #NowPH
. @VoltaireTupaz @ben_muni If we have a strong agreement, countries have no choice but change the system to solve climate crisis #NowPH
Dantes, who leads the #NowPH movement, urged the youth to care for the environment and take action to help combat climate change:
Climate Change is inevitable. It cannot be stopped, nor reversed…but, we can minimize its effects. U don’t have to be an expert to care.
— Dingdong Dantes (@iamdongdantes) October 29, 2015
Why must the Filipino youth get involved in #NowPH? Join the Twitter conversation at 2pm today to learn more! pic.twitter.com/2tAtIQ0WZn
Responding to #NowPH’s call, many netizens pledged to act, citing the recent typhoons that had hit the country hard.
The military’s Peace Process Office chief Major Mario Jose Chico, another #NowPH pillar, shared how his family was affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan):
@MovePH my experiences being involved in disaster rescue missions; as a father where my fam survived the onslaught of Yolanda in Tacloban.
Climate change — Every year, typhoons are getting stronger. #NowPH https://t.co/r7CugsUX7a
@MovePH As a journalist, Typhoon Yolanda was an eye-opener. We need to do something to fight climate change #NowPH
Typhoon Yolanda lashed the country in November, 2013, killing thousands and injuring countless more.
Individual and collective efforts
It’s not too late to address climate change issues, netizens stressed.
@MovePH the youth will play a big part in helping climate change because the power that the youth has is capable of changing the world.
@MovePH @iamdongdantes @bamaquino I think that we all have to do something NOW. Don’t wait for it to be too late #NowPH
@MovePH @iamdongdantes It’s never too late to fight global warming and climate change. #NowPH https://t.co/PFTvCgIf3s
Other netizens shared individual and group initiatives that help save the environment.
@VoltaireTupaz a lot of ways to help! For me, ill be more aware of the things around me. Ex: paper, ill make sure to make good use of it.
Segregating thrash is a simple task. No-sweat. Saya when u see kids learn how to do it. Its never too late to fight climate change. #NowPH
@AlyssaValdez2 @iamdongdantes @MovePH avoid using plastic bags, have a segregated garbage collection, these must be practiced religiously
Also, when commuting, choose buses and jeeps that are not smoke belchers! #NowPH https://t.co/iqctqmTMvG
Twitter user @janyxregalo pointed out that educating the youth is just as important as individual actions:
Will be great if K12 includes #climatechange discussions jnthe curriculum. @moveph #nowph https://t.co/34xfBLdbBo
@cccphl @janyxregalo @moveph #NowPH teachers must take this subject as serious as possible to encourage students to do what is right.
These efforts, however, need to be pushed at the national and global levels, other netizens stressed. Small steps are just a part of the solution; voicing concerns on global warming is another chunk of it:
. @pauboyyy @MovePH Coming together gives pressure to governments. Grassroots movement slowly winning this. #NowPH
@rjkarunungan thankfully,we have soc. media as source for "force multipliers" to develop a cult. of preparedness and accountability. #NowPH
@VoltaireTupaz Shift to ecological agriculture – organic farming, saying no to monocultures and GMOs. Urban container farming important too.
@malinginV @VoltaireTupaz We need to use renewable sources of energy. Do it by phase as it entails costs. Earth is more valuable than gold.
The Philippines has a National Climate Change Action Plan 2011-2028 via https://t.co/V7iB08mYop #NowPH https://t.co/cNcTCfirNQ
What can we do to fight #ClimateChange? Here’s @Leon_SnT4P suggestion:
Join our ongoing #NowPH convo! pic.twitter.com/UbgVTtRvQm
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) October 29, 2015
Do your share now
The #NowPH movement suggested a few climate actions netizens can do to reduce carbon emission and help minimize the effects of global warming:
This is my #NowPH pledge. When not in use, just switch it off & unplug. pic.twitter.com/ecr3Iga0Qj
It can be as easy as this. What is your contribution? #NowPH @MovePH pic.twitter.com/t2wkB2M3DS
This is my pledge! I can still shop and save the earth at the same time. #NowPH pic.twitter.com/VZKyK2HgIk
— Vania PadillaEdralin (@vaniaedralin) October 29, 2015
A #climatechange expert said that PH has strong policies.It’s time we strengthen execution
This is my #NowPH pledge pic.twitter.com/kgPxAHS56u
— Raisa Serafica (@RaiMarielle) October 29, 2015
Here are the other climate actions you can take to cushion the impact and devastating effects of global warming.
Posted by Not On Our Watch – #nowph on Wednesday, 28 October 2015
Share them on your social media accounts and challenge your friends and relatives to help save the planet. – Noel Lopez/Rappler.com
Noel Lopez is a Rappler intern.
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