Climate Change Updates

by Alan S. Cajes, PhD

Planet Earth’s greenhouse effect makes life possible by trapping some of the infrared radiation that the Sun emits. It warms the lower atmosphere and the surface of the planet through the greenhouse gases, namely, water vapor (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide(N₂O), methane (CH₄), and ozone (O₃). These greenhouse gases absorb and re-radiate the solar heat resulting in a temperature that is conducive for various forms of life[1].

Due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases, however, brought about by human activities over time, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has significantly increased as shown in the picture below. This phenomenon results in “enhanced” greenhouse effect, which leads to global warming and ultimately to climate change. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), carbon dioxide is “currently responsible for over 60%” of the enhanced greenhouse effect as a consequence of natural processes and the burning of fossil fuels[2]. The other anthropogenic greenhouse gases come from methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs, ozone, etc.

The 2022 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expressed “high confidence” that “human activities are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, with a likely range of 0.8°C to 1.2°C and that global warming “is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate[3]”. In the Philippines, the “observed mean temperature anomalies (or departures from the 1971-2000 normal values) during the period 1951 to 2010 indicate an increase of 0.648 °C or an average of 0.0108 °C per year-increase” while the “maximum and minimum temperatures are seen to have increased by 0.36 ºC and 1.0°C, respectively” during the past 60 years[4].

Figure 1. Changes in Global Surface Temperature (Source: IPCC)

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Atmospheric Services Administration (PAGASA), changes in temperature and the corresponding changes in “rain regimes and patterns” could lead to decreases in crop yield. Less rain, heavy precipitation, and tropical cyclones could severely affect the agriculture sector, especially rice production[5]. Overall, the country “has incurred losses and damages amounting to USD10 billion over the past decade due to climate-related hazards despite contributing only 0.3 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Secretary Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Finance. He also stressed that “climate change is a daily reality in the Philippines[6]”.

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[1] The greenhouse effect. Retrieved from https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discovering-geology/climate-change/how-does-the-greenhouse-effect-work/ on 21 September 2022.

[2] Climate Change Information Sheet 3. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/cop3/fccc/climate/fact03.htm on 21 September 2022

[3] Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5ºC. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/ on 21 September 2022.

[4] Climate Trends in the Philippines. Retrieved from https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/information/climate-change-in-the-philippines on 21 September 2022

[5] Climate Trends in the Philippines

[6] Diokno underscores critical role of sustainable finance in climate action. Retrieved from https://www.dof.gov.ph/diokno-underscores-critical-role-of-sustainable-finance-in-climate-action/ on 21 September 2022

The Two Adams

by Alan S. Cajes, PhD

Note: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik wrote an essay entitled Confronted in 1964 and another one entitled The Lonely Man of Faith in 1965. Both were published in Tradition. This reflection is a reading of these essays. The quoted phrases are from Soloveitchik. The biblical verses are from the Vatican’s online Bible.

Two Accounts of Creation

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik acknowledges two accounts of the creation of human beings in the Bible. The first account in Genesis 1 states: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." The second account in Genesis 2 states: “…then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”

Soloveitchik points out some discrepancies in these accounts and portrays the first account as Adam the first, and the second account as Adam the second.

Adam the first focuses on how, and not why, creation works. He discovers the secrets of nature and uses this power to make existence convenient by producing food, fighting diseases, creating wealth, and building monuments with science and technology. Adam the first, says Soloveitchik, is “this-worldly-minded, finitude-oriented, beauty--centered” who pursues his mandate to “fill the earth and subdue it.”

On the other hand, Adam the second longs for a communion with creation. He is a wonderer who admires and respects nature, a seeker who desires to unravel the meaning of life. Soloveitchik describes Adam the second as one who “explores not the scientific abstract universe but the irresistibly fascinating qualitative world where he establishes an intimate relation with God.”

In a way, Adam the first is a doer, survivor, builder, creator and conqueror, but “purely utilitarian and intrinsically egoistic” existing in a community of similarly minded individuals. In contrast, Adam the second is like a philosopher-theologian who searches for value, yearns for meaning and significance, and lives in a faith community composed of “I, thou, and He.”

Human Typologies

The two Adams can be placed under the types of human beings following the train of thought of Soloveitchik. The first type is the non-confronted human who is non-normative and falls prey to beauty. The mode of being is existence within the natural pleasures that the world can offer. The second type is the confronted human, a cognitive being who senses the numinous in nature. The mode of being is reflective knowledge, which leads to a realization that humans are both immanent in, and transcendent of, nature. The third type is a human in a faith community, a confronted human who forms a relationship with fellow confronted humans and their Creator. The mode of being is “together-existence” that is made possible by communicating to the other one’s loneliness and longing for companionship while at the same time affirming each other’s uniqueness and separateness.

Adam the first and Adam the second are, respectively, the non-confronted human and the confronted human, who has the potential to become a person in a faith community.

Dilemma of a Person in a Faith Community

“I am lonely” is a dilemma facing the third type of human being, i.e., in a faith community, or at least from the view of one who belongs to a religion. Soloveitchik describes religion as “a dimension of personal being” in which humans encounter the divine through their moments in history. The person of faith (the third type) exists in a world that is dominated by non-confronted humans (the first type), who are self-centered and bent on conquering nature and perhaps the stars, galaxies, the heavens. The person of faith is a confronted human (the second type) who feels an awful sense of loneliness amid the loud triumphs and yet mundane concerns of non-confronted humans.  This loneliness stems from his/her faith that espouses a doctrine that “has no technical potential,” a law that “cannot be tested in a laboratory” and “an eschatological vision” that science cannot verify as to its “degree of probability, let alone certainty.”

There may not be a solution to this dilemma, says Soloveitchik, yet he hopes that by confronting this dilemma, one is able to shed light on human existence and propel the journey from a state of non-confronted human to the higher levels – the confronted human and then the human in a faith community.

On New Growth Theory

by A. Salces Cajes, PhD

There is no single formula for development. Economic development is not just about infrastructure and economic activities, but also covers knowledge, institutions, and culture. The new growth theory underscores the role of ideas in promoting economic growth. The proper implementation of good ideas can increase the country’s total productivity. Innovation serves as a catalyst to hasten the occurrence of development, and  innovation can be used to offset diminishing returns.  Indeed, sound ideas are part of human capital. Thus entrepreneurial ability, as a form of human capital, can help accelerate the process of economic development.

Structural changes and better economic outcomes can also be fostered by scientific ideas and rationality. That is why the importation of ideas is generally accepted as a strategy to stimulate economic development. However, ideas are an insufficient, although a necessary, condition for development. Bad ideas have wreaked havoc on the economies of many nations. Hence, the rejection of bad ideas is as important as the adoption of good ideas.

The story of economic development is paved with good and bad ideas. This is clearly demonstrated by the experiences of several socialist countries. In the case of the Philippines, the infusion of liberal ideas eventually awakened the consciousness of the natives about the bad economic situation they had after more than three centuries of Spanish domination. The lessons that the Ilustrados gained, by visiting and studying in other countries, enabled them to distinguish between right and wrong political and economic ideas.

The post-World War II Philippines was generally a poignant reminder of the failures of the import-substitution industrialization. This idea was adopted despite the fact that it was meant for industrial countries. To some extent, import-substitution industrialization produced some benefits, such as the development of local industries. However, in the long run, it became outdated and obsolete compared to what our Asian neighbors have adopted. Thus, the abandonment of unsound ideas is as good as the reception of rational ideas.

In the end, good ideas are like appropriate technologies. They have to be tested and analyzed to ensure that they fit the context of the place where they are to be planted. During my humble experiences in cooperative development, I have first-hand knowledge of the fact that a model that works in one cooperative won’t work when transplanted to another cooperative. There are several factors to be considered, such as the culture of the cooperative members and officers, their risk appetite, the type of business they are into, the supplies of raw materials, infrastructure support, access to funding and coaches, etc.

On the Colonial Origins of Comparative Development

by Alan S. Cajes, PhD

Institutions that protect property rights and provide equitable policies are likely to promote meritocracy, thus invest more in physical and human capital development as drivers for increased income. Such institutions, at least in previously colonized countries, persist because the colonizers were able to settle. As such, they replicated their European institutions that promote ownership of private property, as well as checks and balance in government. The models of this approach are Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.

The same institutions are not likely to be established in colonized countries that discouraged the colonists to settle. What the colonists set up in the counties where they encountered high death rates, for instance, were extractive institutions that are still persisting. An example of such extractive institutions was exemplified by the Belgian colonization of the Congo – ownership of private property was not protected, there were no checks against government expropriation, and the institutions became instruments for the transfer of wealth from the colony to the colonizer.

The quality of institutions is important for the development and prosperity of national economies. The authors cited the different levels of well being between the North and South Korea, as well as the East and West Germany where one country stagnated due to extractive institutions that harbor central planning and collective ownership, while the other has high income driven by free market capitalism. 

Institutions play a critical role in the success or failure of nations. In colonized countries like the Philippines, extractive institutions still persist. This happened due to the exploitation of the colonizers using a small number of landowners, who provided the plantations that produced exports for the colonizers. This class of entrepreneurs acquired the rights to extract minerals and harvest timber from the country’s natural resources. They also became the traders, bankers, and professionals that serve the export-import industries.

Such extractive institutions persisted even after the Second World War with the Philippines adopting an internal colonization mode of agricultural development. In this model, the Filipino elites replaced the colonizers and kept the plantation, natural resources-extractive, export-oriented, and import dependent economy. This small Filipino elites amass wealth, wield political power, and entrench themselves in government through regulatory capture. Thus, some political leaders unknowingly become puppets of these elites.

Reference

The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation Author(s): Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, James A. Robinson Source: The American Economic Review, Vol. 91, No. 5 (Dec., 2001), pp. 1369-1401 Published by: American Economic Association