Bicol gears for SE Summit as G20 Summit ends

As Bicol gears for the Regional Social Enterprises Summit on November 28-29 at the Vista Mall Naga City after being canceled due to super typhoons Kristine and Pepito last October 25-26, the two-day G20 summit held in Brazil ended yesterday November 20 with a statement from the Summit host, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urging leaders of the Group of 20 major economies to “accelerate their national climate targets, calling all to reach net zero climate emissions five to 10 years ahead of schedule.”  

“We have to do more and better,” the Brazilian president said, noting that this is likely the world’s warmest year on record as climate disasters such as flooding and droughts become more frequent and intense. “There is no time to lose,” he added, sounding an alarm to all world countries. We need to stop or slow global warming, he repeatedly urged the 20 conveners.

If plans to stop global warming fail, it could be the death knell for biodiversity and humanity’s life-support systems. The Bicol Social Enterprises Summit conveners support this timely yet urgent call. Climate change and disaster risks impede and profoundly impact the growth and development of social enterprises (SEs) and businesses overall. All businesses are drivers of growth, but with constant flooding and droughts, development stops.

I can’t help but connect the all-encompassing issues of both summits, the local summit for social enterprises and the global summit of wealthy nations. For Bicol and other similarly situated disaster-prone regions, it is time to act and not just talk about climate change, which affects people with low incomes the most. The Filipino adage of “sakit ng kalingkingan, sakit ng buong katawan,” can very well apply to how the adverse effects of clinate change are affecting everyone.

The voice of despair was clear. For those unfamiliar, the G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU).‎ It is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. The G20 has 21 members: 19 countries and two regional organizations, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, African Union and the European Union.

Ironically, the G20, composed of the world’s wealthiest economies that control 85% of global wealth, met in Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of the Sustainable Development Agenda, where their leaders previously reaffirmed their commitment to building a fair world and a sustainable planet, prioritizing the fight against inequalities in all their dimensions, “without leaving anyone behind.”  They launched the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty amidst deteriorating conditions of climate change and increasing poverty in many countries and are now calling for urgent social inclusion, sustainable development, climate action, and reforms in governance. Will this be realized with them at the helm?

The Regional Social Enterprises Summit on November 28-29 at the Vista Mall Naga, good weather permitting, is timely and most relevant. We need to meet up and agree to take action against climate change, which is now a more significant threat to food security, especially to the agricultural value chain. For agrarian Bicol, the stakes are high. It is time to move beyond rhetoric and promises to create concrete pathways for sustainable development, inclusive growth, and climate resilience.

The Regional Social Enterprises Summit hopes to gather 400 social enterprises and advocates to help map out mechanisms for economic resilience by addressing the urgent issues of climate change, poverty, inequality, and development in the specific conditions of Bicol so that businesses can grow and prosper. Indeed, social enterprises are drivers of social change; when the lives of the poor improve, everyone is happy.

The 15 Action Points that Tabang Bikol Movement published in the recent column can be a road map of specific targets for climate change adaptation or or how to deal with climate change in Bicol. Law on Social Enterprises with people with the poor as primary stakeholders who are most affected when typhoons strike is urgently needed. Acquiring village or home-based boats in most vulnerable low lying communities is now a must. Ensuring green governance and developing modern sponge cities are innovations from other countries worth emulating. Let is move fast!      

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The conveners of the Regional Social Enterprises Summit are Mariners Polytechnic Colleges Foundation (MPCF), Central Bicol State University in Agriculture (CBSUA), Bicol University (BU), Naga College Foundation (NCF), Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology (BISCAST) with Tabang Bikol Movement that spearheaded social entrepreneurship in Canaman, Camarines Sur with community based people’s organizations after Typhoon Nina in 2016. Providing significant support is a two-year Social Enterprises Development Project (SEDP) of the MPCF with the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Central Office which ends in December 2024 and the Archdiocese of Caceres. Alongside is the partnership with the Regional Development Council whose NGA members - DTI, DepED, DA, DSWD, DoST, NEDA, DoLE - and the business sector - the MNCCII and CSCCII, Bicol Mail and DWNX/RMN- have become partners as well. The spirit of volunteerism and people-centered development guided this active collaboration.