Climate Change A Threat To Filipino Poor – LOREN

NATIONALIST PEOPLE’S COALITION (NPC), NACIONALISTA PARTY (NP) AND LABAN NG DEMOKRATIKONG PILIPINO (LDP) VICE PRESIDENTIAL BET SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA TODAY LAMENTED THE GREAT INJUSTICE SUFFERED BY THE COUNTRY’S POOREST, SAYING THAT “THEY CONTRIBUTE LEAST TO THE PROBLEM (OF CLIMATE CHANGE) YET THEY BEAR AND SUFFER MOST FROM THE IMPACT.”
“Those most vulnerable to climate change today are the country’s poorest groups, since they lack the resources and means to cope with its impacts,” said Loren, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change.
“It is a clear injustice that these groups suffer the brunt of the impacts of climate change without any responsibility for having caused it,” lamented Loren.
Loren is at the forefront of championing the adoption of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
“Government’s development approach must not further breed injustice. We need a new vision, an approach to development,” said Loren. She stressed that government must have the moral responsibility to technologically and financially assist the poor in their climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts to compensate for the inequity and injustice. Loren cited what the Global Humanitarian Forum had said “ensuring THAT the poor can live in safety means providing substantial additional support to these communities, and that responsibility falls on major polluters,” said Loren.
While Loren acknowledges that regional efforts are ongoing, she urges government parties to ensure that the plan of action is mainstreamed into national policies and programs. “All governments must think, talk, and act green. “The effects of climate change on our resources and our people are real and felt. Poverty, food security, and livelihood are already burdening the common citizen. To compound this, disasters resulting from climate change constantly bring hardships to communities. In this scenario, the poor are the most vulnerable and we must act now,” said Loren.