Climate change affects 鈥渓ife, livelihood, and likelihood鈥
September 12, 2024
The keynote message of Robert E. A. Borje, vice chairperson and executive director of the Climate Change Commission, emphasized to local government leaders the impacts of climate change on lives and the environment, and community response towards resiliency.
Participants of LGUs in Action. Photo by Jerald DJ. Caranza, UP Diliman Information Office
According to its website, the Climate Change Commission is the 鈥渓ead policy-making body of the government tasked to coordinate, monitor, and evaluate government programs and ensure the mainstreaming of climate change in national, local, and sectoral development plans towards a climate-resilient and climate-smart Philippines.鈥
鈥淭he Philippines ranks high in risk indices due to its exposure to multiple hazards and frequent high intensity events,鈥 Borje said, echoing the observation of Sen. Loren Legarda, who sent a video message at the hybrid forum LGUs in Action: Local Innovations for Sustainable Communities (LGUs in Action) at the Novotel Manila in Araneta Center.
Joefe B. Santarita, PhD, former UP Diliman Asian Center dean, and the forum鈥檚 moderator, said that 鈥渢he primary objective of this activity is to showcase exemplary sustainable and climate-oriented initiatives by the LGUs in the archipelago while facilitating discussions and potential collaborations across sectors. So the mayoral forum aims to highlight and disseminate climate change mitigation and adaptation practices implemented by the LGUs in the Philippines and collaborative initiatives and partnerships for sustainable development.鈥
Santarita. Photo by Jerald DJ. Caranza, UP Diliman Information Office
Explaining further, Borje said, 鈥淥ur nation faces increasing temperatures, prolonged droughts, intensified winds, more frequent intensified cyclones, heavy precipitation resulting in floods, landslides, and rising sea levels.鈥 He added, 鈥淲hen we talk about climate change, our lives, livelihood, and collective future are on the line. Buhay, kabuhayan, at kinabukasan po nating lahat ang nakataya.鈥 Santarita rephrased this as 鈥渓ife, livelihood, and likelihood.鈥
In response to the challenges, Borje said the country has developed national policies that will guide actions to address climate impacts.
Borje. Photo by Jerald DJ. Caranza, UP Diliman Information Office
鈥淭he Philippines has recently completed its first national adaptation plan (NAP), becoming only the third ASEAN country and 56th in the world to submit a NAP to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,鈥 Borje said.
According to Borje, NAP aids in reducing climate-related losses and damages and building 鈥渢he country鈥檚 adaptive capacity toward transformative, resilient, and sustainable economic development by 2050. The NAP serves as a national instrument to pursue efforts at all levels of governance to address climate risk and reduce the country鈥檚 vulnerabilities to climate change impacts.鈥
鈥淪imilarly, the Philippines鈥 Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan (NDCIP) is a comprehensive roadmap aimed at reducing emissions and enhancing resilience…
