It used to be that if you weren’t a card-carrying climate warrior, you would never have understood why it’s dangerous that the planet’s temperature has been climbing by a troubling degree.

Because of “human influence,” as experts say, the unabated warming of the atmosphere has led to a more cohesive decision among leaders worldwide to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to the United Nations, “the 1.5-degrees C target is the goal of the Paris Agreement, which calls for countries to take concerted climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming.”

Long-term goals are outlined in said agreement to “guide governments towards limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees C…”

What does that mean exactly?

Does it have anything to do with the resurgence of talks on renewables versus coal as energy sources or even marine biodiversity in our disputed waters?

The answer is yes, of course. Among the primary causes of greenhouse gases are fossil fuels, which include “coal, oil and gas.” These are, in fact, the top three contributors to global climate change, “accounting for over 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions,” says information from the UN.

While we may have plenty of renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and geothermal, transitioning from fossil fuels has been tricky. Aside from the prohibitive costs of developing renewables in the Philippines, the current dependence on coal power also hinges on lower consumer costs.

And when the talk comes to climate change, people on the ground often tune out in a haze of incomprehension. The average Juan couldn’t care less about where it’s sourced as long as he could turn on the lights and charge his gadgets.

Yet the Climate Change Commission is determined to fulfill its mission of “mainstreaming of evidence-based climate adaptation and mitigation policies through optimum coordination among key stakeholders towards achieving a climate-resilient and climate-smart Philippines with healthy, safe, prosperous and self-reliant communities.”

The work is certainly not easy — achieving “optimum coordination” alone is a challenge when a majority remains unfamiliar with the issue and government progress is as slow as any in the world.

The CCC was created as part of Republic Act 9729, also known as the Climate Change Act of 2009. It is an “independent and autonomous body that has the same status as a national government agency.”

Hereabouts, the CCC has not let up in its call for cooperation and participation in the effort to not just mitigate loss and damage — but more so “to prevent” loss and damage.

The Philippines is said to be committed to decreasing its carbon emissions as part of the global climate goals, but to see significant results at all — or to believe that there is still hope of saving the planet — all countries must do their part. Time, as one key official reminded us, is of the essence.