Noy urged to sign NCCAP

MANILA, Philippines - Civil society groups called yesterday on President Aquino to sign the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP).

“If Filipinos are to act in concert in response to the growing menace of the climate crisis, P-Noy needs to sign the NCCAP right away, as in now,” said Andres Tionko, a convenor of Aksyon Klima (AK), the 100,000-strong network of civil society organizations working on climate change- and development-related issues.

The NCCAP is a comprehensive national program that covers a period of 18 years.

It serves as the country’s roadmap to help determine funding and investment in response to climate change risks, the group said.

“The Philippines is at extreme risk of climate change, according to British firm Maplecroft. The country was rated 10th out of 193 countries in the study it released last October.

Manila, identified as one of the 20 fastest growing cities worldwide, was pointed to as the most exposed in the list to flooding and typhoons.”

The signing of the NCCAP will particularly benefit women, indigenous people, and other sectors vulnerable to climate change, the network added.

“These groups are less able to adapt to climate change because of their circumstances and they bear a greater burden of its consequences,” AK national coordinator Rowena Bolinas said.

“The President will send a strong message that he cares about them and the rest of the Filipino people if he signs the NCCAP today or tomorrow, right during his commission’s grand events,” she added.

This developed while the country is observing Climate Change Consciousness Week.

The national observance, which falls on Nov. 19 to 25 this year, was mandated under a proclamation issued by former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo.

Aquino has directed the Climate Change Commission to spearhead the celebration but has yet to sign the NCCAP, which was submitted for his signature last April.