Endogenous exacerbation of an exogenous problem: climate change, environmental degradation, and unsustainable development practices in the Philippines

ABSTRACT The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. While climate change is a threat arising from outside of the Philippines, environmental degradation and unsustainable development practices occurring within the Philippines increase its vulnerability to climate change. This article examines the hazards posed to the Philippines by climate change, discusses factors in the Philippines contributing to climate change vulnerability, discusses the need for a population centric development paradigm, and concludes with a discussion of the historic, and continuing, domination of Philippines society by an elite that has taken control of the state and uses it as a vehicle for furthering its own interests.