I shoot this picture in 2018. This is what a sunrise looks like in Metro Manila, a city suffocating with air pollution. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), together with Greenpeace Southeast Asia, published a report denouncing the ravaging impacts of fossil fuels on the health of Filipinos, where the air quality is mediocre and far from reaching the WHO standards. Indeed, even after three decades since the passage of the country's Clean Air Act, the Philippines is still nowhere near achieving comprehensive air pollution control. The sources of ambient air pollutants are the major emitters of greenhouse gases that continue to exacerbate climate change, which will further endanger people's health in the Philippines, one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, for decades to come. "One of the most important ways that governments can catalyze sustainable transport is to set a phaseout date for diesel, gas, and petrol cars, and to introduce comprehensible and affordable public transport, with safe walking and cycling infrastructure. We need to move away from private cars as the primary mode of transport, and initiatives like car-free days allow us to imagine what our cities would look like without traffic and pollution." says the report. Having previously lived in Manila, I couldn't agree more. The public transports are almost inexistent, and if they are, they are mostly American Jeeps transformed into buses. Nothing safe or environmental-friendly. Pathways and cycling paths are also inexistent, which forces the population to ride bikes or drive. Most of the people use taxis. Transport is a key aspect in the fight of fossil fuels, and I hope this report will encourage the government of the Philippines to take climate action. Picture : mine. A cloudly, polluted sky over Manila. Not your classic sunrise. “Toxic Air: The Price of Fossil Fuels”, Report from CREA and Greenpeace, 2020 : https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-philippines-stateless/2020/02/8c13fcaf-toxic-air-report-110220.pdf "Tackling air pollution in the Philippines", The Lancet, 2022 : https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00065-1/fulltext