Manila: President Benigno Aquino III has given orders to officials to craft a National Climate Action Plan that will enable the government to avail the international Climate Adaptation Fund.
The government move to convene the Climate Change Commission and come up with a National Climate Action Plan will be a significant step in preparing the country against the effects of the changing weather patterns.
According Governor Joey Salceda of Albay province, the plan is about adaptation to climate change and mitigating its impact, particularly on the economy.
Salceda's province counts among the areas most frequented by destructive weather disturbances such as typhoons.
According to him, the National Climate Action Plan that the government will be coming out will form the basis of any assistance that will come from industrialized countries in Europe and the US.
Based on the discussions by world leaders and experts in recent forum, underdeveloped and developing countries bear the brunt of effects of climate change, such as floods, landslides and similar calamities.
On the other hand, developed and industrialised countries such as the United States and Europe are being blamed for causing global warming because of massive use of fossil fuels in their industries.
Simply put, developed countries tend to produce pollutants and greenhouse gasses while poor and developing countries pay for these abuse of the environment as the latter suffers the effects of climate change in the form of calamities.
"It's a critical balance, but I think in the case of the Philippines, it is biased towards adaptation. Adaptation being that you fight the impact of climate change. Mitigation, because you fight climate change itself," Salceda said palace briefing.
Despite its apparent shortcomings in the past on properly preparing Filipinos against calamities, Salceda, who is close to the President personally, said the Philippines is prepared for the effects of changing weather patterns.
On the average, Salceda said, the country is losing to climate change about 0.31 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). It may look insignificant but some provinces like Albay is hurt by the impact, he added.
He said the Philippines' national action plan will be presented to the climate change conference to be held in Durban, South Africa, and it will be the basis of compensatory measures that rich countries have committed to pay.
"The national climate action plan is a requirement so that the EU and Japan, Australia will know just where they would help out in their commitments to fight the effects of climate change," he said.
Earlier, Senator Loren Legarda said that the Philippines, being the third most vulnerable to disasters, has not yet availed a single dollar from it because of the lack of a National Implementing Entity, through which the fund can be accessed.
"According to the United Nations Office for Project Services, all we need to do is establish or appoint the NIE and once we complete the requirements, we can access the fund within six months," she pointed out.
