Tags: Climate Change, Environment, Government Policies
By Alexander Villafania
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) has finally released its National Framework Strategy on Climate Change that covers all government-related climate change mitigation plans from 2010 to the year 2022.
The strategy brings together studies and suggestions from different government offices including the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The CCC, which is under the Office of the President, was also created to implement the provisions of Republic Act 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009.
The framework identifies the responsibilities of the local government units (LGUs). As such, the LGUs will be given guidelines on climate change mitigation programs, after consulting with the various LGUs on their available natural resource and utilization.
The LGU program would be called the Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAP), which will be implemented a year after the framework has been adapted from a national level.
According to a report by the Philippine Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), cited in the framework, the average temperature in the Philippines is projected to increase from 0.9 degrees Celsius to 1.2 degrees Celsius, which could cause severe droughts during the dry season.
In addition, the global rise in sea levels will affect coastal areas in the Philippines. The projected increase in sea levels in the Philippines is about 1 meter in many areas of the country within the next 10 years. A rise in sea levels could cause the loss of over 129,000 hectares of land, according to estimates by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).
The loss of the country’s forests has overwhelming effects on the country’s temperature and water retention. Currently, there are only 7.2 million hectares of forest left, covering only 24.7 percent of the country.
The CCC has also identified models to reduce the country’s production of greenhouse gases, said to be a major factor in climate change. Among the plans to reduce carbon emissions is to convert existing public utility vehicles to LPG and other alternative sources of energy.
Incidentally, former US Vice President Al Gore, who wrote the environmental documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” will be coming to the Philippines on June 8 to talk about climate change and how the Philippines can figure in alleviating its effects.
Some organizations, such as Greenpeace and Klima, have also been promoting various projects aimed at reducing the effects of climate change in the Philippines.
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