Legarda: Let Us Do More To Address Climate Change, Disaster Risks

Senator Loren Legarda today renewed her call for greater climate action not only from the international community, the national government and concerned sectors but also from every citizen.

Legarda, United Nations Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, noted that in the speech of President Benigno Aquino III before his fellow heads of state at the UN Climate Summit in New York, he urged his fellow leaders to have “a change in mindset from arguing over the division of work to one where we’ll do the maximum we can.”

Legarda said that Filipinos should likewise have a change in attitude.

“We must be the change we seek. With all the disasters that we have experienced, we have to be concerned and get involved now. We must do more and do everything we can to address climate change,” she stressed.

“We could have reduced the volume of floodwaters, if not completely prevent flooding, caused by the recent Typhoon Mario, which was enhanced by the Southwest Monsoon, if we have been faithfully implementing the Solid Waste Management Law and if we all do our share in protecting our environment,” she added.

The Senator said that the Climate Change Act, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, and the People’s Survival Fund Act, as well as other environmental laws, should all be fully operational and implemented down to the local level.

Legarda said local-based resilience strategy should be strengthened, especially that the People’s Survival Fund now has one billion in programmed funds under the proposed 2015 national budget intended to finance climate change adaptation activities of local governments and organizations.

She also said that she is hopeful for a significant progress in the global climate action as many world leaders who attended the UN Climate Summit renewed their commitment to cut down carbon emissions and to contribute to the Green Climate Fund, which supports climate adaptation programs of developing countries.

“We continue to hope that industrialized countries would commit to ambitious sustainable development goals such as deep cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions and significant technological and financial assistance to countries which remain poor and vulnerable to disasters. But as we demand bold global climate action, we must equally demand from ourselves involvement in adaptation, mitigation and resilience efforts in our respective communities,” Legarda concluded.