MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Loren Legarda is urging the government to immediately implement the Climate Change Law to strengthen the country’s defense against natural calamities.
“The passage of the Climate Change Act could not have come at a time more ideal than today, and I am pleased to be with you again to further discuss this landmark legislation,” Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change, said at the national conference on climate change adaptation held in Manila recently.
The filing of this measure two years ago took inspiration from the Albay Declaration, the outcome document of the First National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation, as it called for “the passage of a policy prioritizing climate change adaptation in the national agenda.”
“The ensuing discussions on the threats of climate change to our basic human rights - food, potable water, shelter, decent livelihood and life itself, have occupied us for some time now. In response to these impacts, vulnerable countries like the Philippines should ramp up efforts to enhance the resilience of our people,” Legarda said.
She said the most vulnerable to the scourge of disasters are the poorest of the poor, who should be given special attention. They are the small farmers, fisherfolk, upland dwellers, urban squatters living on riverbanks, forestlands, seashores and low-lying areas.
“Without planning and assistance, more will lose their lives, homes and farms that make up their life’s possession. Just a single extreme weather event can derail the achievement of our Millennium Development Goals’ target. While climate change has recently been at the forefront of international and local discourse, it is perhaps only now that we have seen its devastating impacts,” Legarda said.
She said it took tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” for us to realize the urgent need to confront the drivers of our vulnerability to disasters and climate change – poor urban governance, vulnerable rural livelihoods and ecosystems decline – in order to save lives and secure livelihoods.
The Climate Change Act will build resilience to the impacts of climate change, Legarda said.
The Commission on Climate Change shall be the sole policy-making body of the government tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and action plans of the government relating to climate change.
“The Climate Change Act, the first in Asia, sums up the country’s great resolve to take the issue of climate change very seriously. It goes to show that we value above everything else the welfare of our people through the protection of the world where we all live,” Legarda said.
“This law is for us, our children and the generations after them. Ensuring its full implementation is the great challenge and responsibility posed to us all,” she said.
Medium-term dev’t plan
A multi-sectoral organization appealed to President Arroyo to consider their declaration for a Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan on Climate Change during the national conference on climate change.
Representatives of local government units, national agencies, policymakers, academe, private and public communities, non-governmental organizations, and the tri-media, were participants of the recently concluded “National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation+2: Moving forward on Albay Declaration 2007,” held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila last Monday and Tuesday.
The group came up with a Manila Declaration 2009, which included an Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Climate Change Act, and the National Action Plan on Climate Change, all local development plans and programs, as well as their budgets.
The group has been cited for recognizing the findings of the global scientific community and the conclusions of the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the “warming of the earth’s climate system is unequivocal.”
They also affirmed their commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Republic Act 9729, or the Climate Change Act, as the core mechanism for addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation at the local level.
The group recommended the promotion of innovative partnerships with scientific communities and academic institutions to enhance scientifically informed national policies for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
The group also advised the government to recognize the importance of achieving greater synergy between local actions and national strategies and programs and the importance of strengthening cooperation among local government units for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the goals of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005 to 2015 for building resilient communities through the promotion of innovative approaches to reduce disaster risk. – With Sandy Araneta