President Aquino
urged to heed UN climate report
Groups call to activate
local adaptation fund
Press Release
April 4, 2014
MANILA, Philippines – Civil society groups said the Aquino government
must improve its adaptation and mitigation efforts, not only in the
aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, but also given the dire warnings cited
in the recent United Nations climate report on climate change.
At a press conference today, Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, Greenpeace and
Oxfam expressed their grave concerns following the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Working Group II Report on Impacts,
Vulnerability and Adaptation, which released a grim climate forecast
for Southeast Asia. The IPCC report was the consolidated work of
thousands of scientists and affirmed by world governments.
The three civil society groups urged the Aquino government to take the
first step by allocating funds for the People’s Survival Fund (PSF),
which by law should finance the adaptation plans of local government
units (LGUs). Adaptation plans include setting up early warning
systems and contingency planning for extreme weather events such as
droughts and floods.
The organizations emphasized that they continue to call on governments
across the world, particularly developed countries, to honor their
responsibility and commit to scale up their adaptation and mitigation
actions. “But after Yolanda, we also need to adapt to the best of our
own abilities and empower communities so they can be more
climate-resilient,” the three groups stated.
“Beyond the PSF, both disaster risk reduction and climate change
adaptation should already be incorporated in the post-Yolanda
rehabilitation plan, and then into longer-term national and local
development plans and budgets,” according to Melvin Purzuelo, convenor
of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas.
“The IPCC report however states that adaptation is not enough. We
therefore need to integrate adaptation with mitigation strategies,
such as transitioning to renewable energy systems,” said Amalie Obusan,
regional climate and energy campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
On the PSF, Justin Morgan, Oxfam country director, added: “Congress
must allocate at least P1 billion to the People’s Survival Fund as
mandated by law. President Aquino must also sign the revised
Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Climate Change Act to make
the fund operational.”
“As a highly vulnerable country, extreme weather events are now our
new normal, and we need to take concrete measures to literally
survive,” the groups added.