International donors support RP's fight vs climate change

CEBU, Philippines - Foreign financial institutions have expressed their full support to the Climate Change Commission’s (CCC) objective to address impacts of global warming and climate change in the country through mitigation and adaptation strategies.

In the first of a series of coordination meeting hosted by the Commission in Malacañang on Thursday, representatives of the different foreign donors have conveyed to Climate Change Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez their support to the Commission’s aim to address the impacts of climate change.

Alvarez, vice chairman of the CCC, said he hopes to harmonize all foreign aids and loans, ensuring no misappropriations, misuse or overlapping of government projects on climate change.

“We will coordinate within the capacity of the Commission. We are looking forward for a long term relationship to be able to address the impacts of climate change,” Alvarez said during the meeting.

President Benigno C. Aquino III, who chairs the Commission, earlier called for prudence in the use of public funds to ensure that these are properly utilized and accounted for.

The Commission, through Undersecretary Carlos A. Garcia VI, Deputy Executive Director of the Climate Change Office, presented to the financial institutions the mandate of the CCC, as stipulated in R.A. 9729, in crafting and implementing policies and projects to address climate change.

The CCC also presented the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change to the foreign donors showing the extreme vulnerability of the country to changes in temperature, changes in rainfall, sea level rise, bio-physical, and ecosystem degradation brought by climate change.

Foreign donors present during the coordination group meeting were Jaqueline Badcock, resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP); Rolf Anderson and Jose Dulce of the US Agency for International Development (USAID); Erika Geronimo and Maria Anne Orquiza of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid); Gene Castro of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO); Etsuko Taneda and Kenzo Ikeda of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Ancha Srinivasan of the Asian Development Bank (ADB); and Walter Salzer, Dr. Volker Steigerwald and Agnes Batola of the GTZ Philippines (German Aid).

Also present during the meeting were Dr. Dovas Saulys, Environment Science and Technology and Energy Officer of the US Embassy and representatives from the national government agencies such as National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Bureau of Investments (BOI), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Energy (DoE), Department of Education (DepEd), and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).   (FREEMAN NEWS)