“Climate change is everyone’s concern; we all need to be consistent and persistent now in combining various solutions to the climate crisis that is already upon us,” Cong. Edgar Chatto said during the observance of the 14th Annual Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week.
As chair of the Committee on Climate Change at the House of Representatives, Chatto reminds everyone about the urgency of action on climate change and this action should be placed at the center of all policy and decision making from local to national level, and encourage local government units (LGU) to issue Climate Emergency Declarations within their respective jurisdictions.
In June this year, the House committee on Climate Change collaborated with Rice Watch Action Network and Greenpeace Philippines which culminated in the turnover of the Climate Emergency Response Roadmap to Support Small Islands and Coastal Communities Vulnerable to Tidal Floods and Sea Level Rise to the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh).
The Climate Change Commission facilitated the lineup of activities that ends today, Nov. 28, 2021.
The annual observance also comes at the heels of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP26, in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
The Philippine delegation led by Department of Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez reported relevant outcomes of the summit to the House committee, which included enhancement of finance mobilization to realize the goals of climate plans, scaling up of investments towards climate action; climate financing coming from developed countries, reaffirmation of the goal to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, deployment of clean power generators, and operationalization of the Paris Agreement, among others.
The Philippines, accounting for 0.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, bears the brunt of the consequences of climate change. This was a major statement conveyed by the Philippine delegation in the said conference in Glasgow.
The delegation also emphasized the country’s ambition to be a world leader in climate action, setting its Nationally Determined Contribution at 75% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The delegation also called for a framework on climate justice where developed countries with most greenhouse gas emissions come from should take responsibility for financing the capacity development and technology transfer comprised of grants, investments, and subsidies needed by vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change.
With the theme: “Klima ng Kinabukasan, Ating Pangalagaan, this year’s nationwide observance of Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week is pursuant to Proclamation No. 1667 in 2008.