59
The agricultural sector is similarly affected. An estimated 413,456 farmers were
directly affected by El Niño-associated dry spells during the last El Niño period.282
As agriculture is highly dependent on a stable environment, climate change impacts–
whether prolonged droughts or intense rain and flooding–disrupt crop productivity
and directly affects the farmer and farm workers’ income. Increased poverty,
dangerous working conditions, lack of access to basic needs, food insecurity, and even
loss of tradition all infringe on the Filipino farmers’ human rights.
People living in informal urban settlements are also affected. They account for 45
percent of the Philippines’ urban population and they are particularly vulnerable to
floods due to less secure infrastructure, reduced access to clean water, and lack of
health insurance.283
f. LGBTQIA+
The LGBTQIA+ community, because of social stigma and discrimination, is
especially vulnerable to exclusion, violence, and exploitation.284 Their already
vulnerable situation is aggravated by the impacts of climate change, as members of the
LGBTQIA+ community are frequently denied access to various social opportunities
and infrastructure needed to cope with the impacts of climate change.285
There is minimal data on LGBTQIA+ rights in the Philippines, particularly in the
context of climate change. Much of what has been said remains anecdotal. For instance,
Jean, a transgender woman from Tacloban, Leyte, recounted that she was compelled
to drop her lived name and revert to her registered birth name in order to be listed as
a recipient of government relief goods.286 Moreover, according to Jean, the livelihood
282
to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner,
D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S.
Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press [hereinafter
referred to as IPCC, AR6, WGII, SPM].
Climate
Change
Commission,
National
Integrated
Climate
Change
Database
and
Information
Exchange
System,
Climate
Change
Impacts,
available
at
http://mpmc.minda.gov.ph/climate-change-impacts.
283
World Bank, Getting a Grip, supra note 139.
285
Anuj Behal, How Climate Change is Affecting the LGBTQIA+ Community, DownToEarth, Jan. 11, 2021,
available at https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/environment/how-climate-change-is-affecting-thelgbtqia-community-74988.
286
Salaysay ni Jean Golong, Aug. 14, 2018, at 4, available at http://chr.gov.ph (last accessed
284
Cara Thuringer, Left Out and Behind: Fully Incorporating Gender into the Climate Discourse,
NewsSecurityBeat, Aug. 22, 2016, available at https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2016/08/left-behindfully-incorporating-gender-climate-discourse/.
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