GMA orders plan to deal against effects of climate change

MANILA, Philippines - Due to the Philippines’ high vulnerability to rising sea levels and destructive typhoons, President Arroyo has ordered concerned government agencies to rush the formulation of an adaptation plan for the country against the effects of climate change, officials said yesterday.

Mrs. Arroyo cancelled her visit yesterday to Negros Occidental to inaugurate a bio-fuels plant due to bad weather conditions. She, however, proceeded in the afternoon to Taguig City for a climate change event.

The President has set Fridays as her “green day” or her public engagements would be on protecting the environment, promoting alternative renewable sources of energy, and waste reduction and recycling.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Mrs. Arroyo earlier issued Executive Order 774 reorganizing the Task Force on Climate Change into 14 task groups, each one headed by a Cabinet member, that will jumpstart a national action plan to reverse climate change.

“This order was later supplemented by EO 785 for the development of a National Climate Change framework,” Remonde said. “We are now formulating the related Adaptation Strategies on Climate Change for the country.”

“Our country is a net taker of climate change. We contribute very little to the global emission of greenhouse gases which cause climate change, but we are disproportionately affected by it,” he said, quoting Mrs. Arroyo.

He said were sea levels to rise by a few inches because of global warming, the United States might lose only a few acres of coastal land. “But an archipelagic country like ours could end up losing entire islands to the rising waters,” he said.

He said Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change Heherson Alvarez has been authorized to commit the country to cut its carbon emissions up to 80 percent well in excess of Kyoto Protocol standards, when he meets with the environmental heads of other countries in December.

“The President continues to believe that the choice between economic development and environmental protection is a false choice,” Remonde said. “Both objectives are essential and can be pursued together with the appropriate technology and public policies.”

“All that is needed from us is the political will and determination to unite behind this urgent global agenda,” he said.