Marcos at APEC: Food security a serious global problem

BANGKOK, Thailand — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Thursday called on his fellow leaders in the Asia Pacific region to support innovations and structural changes to address climate change, which he called the "most pressing existential challenge of our time."

Speaking at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit here, the Philippine leader emphasized the three issues that he believes must be resolved immediately to enable rapid economic growth — ensuring food security, reinforcement of global health systems and climate change.

As of press time, the President was engaged in a bilateral talk with his China counterpart Xi Jinping on additional areas of potential cooperation between the two countries, which are also dealing with ticklish territorial issues in the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea.

"Now more than ever our governments and economies must work closer and better together as partners in order to find that break in the clouds where the light of hope and progress can shine through," Marcos said.

Mr. Marcos also stressed the need to ensure food security, calling it a "serious global problem" as it is being felt by "every household, by every family, by everyone."

"Food security must be a top priority for all governments and developing economies especially must have the policy flexibility needed to ensure an increased domestic food production and diversification and to improve the local agricultural supply and value chain," he said.

He also urged his fellow leaders to reinforce the global health systems, not only against new and emerging variants of Covid-19 but also against other infectious diseases that may emerge.

"The global economy simply cannot afford another crippling series of lockdowns and travel bans that deflate consumer confidence, dampen the recovery of tourism, and derail the stability of global markets," he said.

He proposed strengthening health surveillance systems that can ensure the resilience of the global health system.

Lastly, he lamented that the Philippines is among the countries at great risk from the climate change crisis. The country stands to lose more than six percent of gross domestic product annually by 2100, based on a study by the Asian Development Bank, the President said.

Although global agreements seeking multilateral solutions to the climate crisis, particularly the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, are in force, "not enough" progress has been made as emissions continue to rise, Marcos said.

"The Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC or COP 27 is in full swing, but stronger climate action is required. As the energy demands of the modern global economy continue to expand rapidly, diversification into renewables and other sources is imperative," he said.

He also argued that climate change, high inflation, and geopolitical crises are interconnected as part of a delicate global food ecosystem, which affects nations globally.

During the question-and-answer portion, the President said he agrees with Robert E. Moritz, Global Chairman of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, that the changes that need to be made are structural.

"They have to be done structurally because this is a different world. This is a different economy. And as we were discussing in the green room, he says we're not playing catch-up. And I said, even if we were, what are we trying to catch up to? 2019? I don't think that that's the plan," Marcos said.

"We cannot be too married to the ideas that we were holding as truths before and we have to be willing to make big changes but with the recognition that from what is actually happening around the world," he added.

He also cited the cash transfer payments being done in the Philippines to cushion the impact of increasing prices of fuel and food on Filipinos.

"It is actually at this point, it is survival for many of our people simply because prices of fuel, prices of food have risen to such an extent that they simply cannot afford to survive without assistance from the government. And hence we are still present in the Philippines providing just direct cash transfer payments," Marcos said.

"This is not something that we prefer to do. I don't think that anyone is particularly enamored with direct cash transfer payments. But it is the only way that we can mitigate the situation that our people have."

Marcos averred that progress and prosperity are possible only with peace in the Asia-Pacific region.