Pasig City, Philippines Mayor Vico Sotto was recently interviewed for a Philippine television program to discuss the city’s various environmental initiatives, including its participation in the Ambitious City Promises (ACP) project. 

As part of ACP, Pasig City joins select cities from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam that will commit themselves towards sustainable urban development, climate action, and institutionalization of their climate strategies. 

Specifically, Pasig City has committed itself to the reduction of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using a holistic, multi-stakeholder, and quantifiable approach. A 2017 analysis of Pasig’s GHG emissions inventory revealed that on top of the obvious culprits such as factories and vehicles, the number one source of GHG in the city is electrical consumption. Residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional energy consumption in Pasig contributed to 86% of the city’s entire GHG emissions for the said year.

“Every citizen has a part in protecting the environment. Even if 99% of us do our part, if there’s 1% who does not do theirs, our efforts can be wasted,” said Mayor Sotto in Filipino during his interview.

To rally the city’s constituents towards the reduction of their electricity consumption, the Pasig City local government has made strides towards energy efficiency and conservation. These steps have thus far included the adoption of a 100Kw on-grid solar power system in the Pasig Sports Center; as well as the transition to solar lights in key establishments such as the Pasig City Hall, Pasig City Mega Market, and multi-purpose halls in the city’s 30 villages.

These are on top of other climate action efforts, including exploring the feasibility of floating farms, upcycling plastic wastes, and tree planting along the city’s floodways and rainforest park 

You may watch the interview below:

The formulation of the Promise of Pasig is supported by the Ambitious City Promises (ACP) project, an international initiative implemented by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability in cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and with funding support from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) program of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU).