RP urged to adopt stronger policies on environment

LEVERKUSEN, Germany — The devastation left by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng on the Philippines underscores the need for the government to put in place stronger policies for the protection of the environment, an official of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said here on the sidelines of a press conference on the environment.

Policy-makers need not wait for the 2010 presidential elections to look into how the Philippines can institute measures that would help protect the environment, said Satinder Bindra, UNEP Director, Division of Communications and Public Information.

“It should be in everybody’s interest to do things at a national level,” he said.

He added that it is “very, very important” for the government to initiate measures that would help improve the country’s situation as far as the environment is concerned. “The government has to lay down policies,” he said.

While he noted that the elections can be a venue to discuss climate change, he also said these discussions can already start way ahead of next year’s polls.

“Anytime is a good time to have a national debate on the issue,” he said.

Each and every Filipino should also participate in the upcoming global conference on climate change in Copenhagen and push for the signing of a deal that would help eliminate carbon emissions worldwide.

“Everybody has to be stakeholder in Copenhagen,” Bindra said.

The United Nations International Conference on Climate Change will be held in Copenhagen on December 7 to 18, 2009.

Bindra said that in the run-up to the Copenhagen conference, developing countries including the Philippines should already be pushing for the signing of the deal, warning that the issue of environment protection is more urgent than ever.

“We have very little time left,” Bindra said.