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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Conclusion: Towards Sustainable Development in the Philippines?

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For many years, the Philippine archipelago, as we hope to have shown throughout this book, has suffered from many ills, some related to its geography and natural environment, some to its major demographic trends, many also from its social, economic and political structures and choices and its early insertion within a globalized economy. Resources have been depleted or severely damaged (forests, soils, water, coral reefs, mangroves, fisheries). Environmental losses may be linked to extensive factors (economic and population growth) as well as intensive factors (unequal distribution and access to market resources) (Montes and Lim 1996). Everything is linked, such as climate change and poverty, a fact recognized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (Fabunan 2015): poverty cannot be reduced without addressing the alarming issue of climate change, which is hurting the poorest countries and the poorest people.