Ramos, Prince of Orange to keynote international forum on climate change

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Fidel Ramos and Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands will keynote the 8th Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (APRSCP) which begins tomorrow at the Mactan Shangri-La in Cebu.

APRSCP chair and president Dr. Olivia LaO Castillo announced that over 200 national and international experts on climate action and sustainable development have registered for the two-day conference, which has as theme “SCP and Green Growth for Climate Action.”

At a dinner for the conference delegates hosted by Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia, two awards will be given out for innovative water use initiatives. The Eco-award for Water Sustainability will be given to the Lucio Tan Group of Companies for their water impounding projects for the rice and tobacco farmers in Ilocos Sur and La Union, and the Eco-award for Water Innovations will be given to the Hilton Cebu Resort & Towers for their zero waste water treatment facility.

Prince Willem-Alexander chairs the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board (UNSGAB) on Water and Sanitation. He has been active in promoting awareness of and action on the global water and sanitation situation, having chaired the 2nd World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000 and sitting as a member of the Panel of Eminent Persons as an expert on water management.

“In the past decade we have been trying to assess if, when and how strong the impact of climate change will be on our life,” he says, adding that while “it is obvious that there is no single and clear-cut answer to that, we should not wait before acting…”

Also speaking at the conference are Vice Minister of the Environment of Korea Lee Byoung-wook, Philippine Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, Director of the Sustainability Institute Christopher Juniper, former Philippine Secretary of the Environment and 2007 Champions of the Earth awardee Elizea Gozun, and Philippine Undersecretary for Trade and Industry Thomas Aquino.

Aside from the opening day plenary, there will be working sessions on water and sanitation, waste management, energy, financing/carbon fund markets, sustainable building and construction, chemicals, sustainable mobility and transport, and sustainable consumption and climate change.