Message: Turning the Tide: The Philippines’ Journey to Climate Resilience | COP28, Dubai

Message of Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda
Turning the Tide: The Philippines’ Journey to Climate Resilience
2 December 2023 1:00 PM| COP28, Dubai

We live in difficult and challenging times in this era of the climate crisis.

The urgency to adapt—to safeguard vulnerable populations and build resilience within our communities—has never been clearer. Mitigation is just as important, in order to minimize the scale and intensity of climate impacts we must adapt to, as well as leapfrog to low-carbon systems and transform our ways of living for the better.

The Philippines has, for far too long, been the face of loss and damage and climate risk and vulnerability.

With this, I express my utmost support for the presentation of our National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and our Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan (NDCIP) as our country’s long-term strategic action plans to enable genuine and lasting resilience for our nation. This means that there is much work to do. We need to continue to forge on with bold and transformative action, founded firmly on science and supported by adequate means to implement.

Our NAP consolidates all available options that we need to prioritize, so that we address present and anticipated climate risks across our regions. And may this serve as a guide for all officials and planners in both the public and private spheres in adopting practices and implementing projects and programs that would improve the welfare of every Filipino.

Our NDCIP meanwhile identifies all our priority policies and measures in achieving our committed target of 75% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We do this because we need to support the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and because we know that transitioning towards low-carbon systems and technologies will bring returns in the long run for our people and the planet.

I thank the Climate Change Commission and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for taking the lead in the development of our NAP and NDCIP.

I have high hopes for scaled-up climate action across our sectors. I am with you in making the goals and aspirations contained in our NAP and NDCIP a reality for all.

Thank you. Isang luntiang Pilipinas sa ating lahat!