House OKs ‘climate emergency’ declaration

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has passed a resolution declaring a “climate emergency” in the country.

House members unanimously approved in session last week Resolution 1377 that requires all national and local projects and appropriations to be “climate and disaster responsive.”

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said such declaration is necessary to encourage swift action to mitigate the impacts of climate change, particularly natural disasters, by compelling the government including Congress and other stakeholders to consider climate change in planning and policymaking.

“Declaring a climate emergency means recognizing that climate crisis is the fight of our lives and that there is an urgent need for a massive-scale mobilization to protect Filipinos and the environment from climate change and its devastating impacts,” his statement read.

Velasco noted that the Philippines has been facing climate emergency for decades now with millions of Filipinos left to suffer the catastrophic effects of extreme weather events made stronger and more deadly by climate change.

He said it is for this reason why the Philippines is considered one of the most disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable countries in the world.

The massive devastation caused by recent tropical cyclones – including Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses which claimed 73 lives and caused the worst flooding in Metro Manila and Cagayan Valley in years – has made it imperative for the country to pursue stronger climate-adaptive and resiliency measures, he added.

“There will be more typhoons that will come our way, and we have to become better at preparations and in handling situations that call for sound judgment to prevent devastating death tolls and economic costs of future calamities,” Velasco said.

HR 1377 also sought to mobilize government agencies and instrumentalities, together with local government units, to effectively implement environmental, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

Also, the chamber’s committee on disaster resilience adopted HR 535 expressing the sense of the legislative body that there is a disaster climate emergency requiring a “whole-of-government, whole-of-society and whole-of-nation policy response to anticipate, halt, reduce, reverse, address and adopt to its impacts, consequences and causes.”

Velasco said the declaration of a climate emergency would amplify the country’s demand for climate justice from developed nations and help achieve its goals under the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The Paris Agreement calls all signatory countries to submit stronger climate targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs, every five years. The NDCs state what each country will do at a national level to reduce emissions, enhance their resilience to climate change threats, and help finance climate action.

So far, over three quarters of the world’s countries have formally committed to strengthen their NDCs by yearend. However, only 17 countries have actually submitted their NDCs to the United Nations and only 13 of those NDCs contained improved climate targets. The Philippines is currently working to submit a revised NDC.

At the recently concluded virtual conference of lawmakers from 48-member-nation Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), Velasco said the country’s NDC will show “the world our resolve to pursue low carbon development, as well as the support we need from developed countries in terms of climate finance, capacity building and technology transfer in the context of climate justice and in accordance with the Paris Agreement.”

Velasco, along with Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda and House committee on climate change chair Edgar Chatto, represented the Philippines in the CVF conference.

During the forum, the Speaker said there is a need for the country to set enabling policies that will accelerate its transition to low carbon and climate-resilient economies notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to address gaps in climate action and the implementation of our climate change laws and policies,” Velasco said.

He also emphasized the need for other nations to support the Philippines in its fight against climate change.

“We are your people, our local emergencies are your global emergencies,” Velasco told forum attendees. “The increasingly violent typhoons, hurricanes and floods caused by climate change are becoming the new normal all over the world and the Philippines has been unfortunate receiving end of the worst of them.”

Flood summit

Meanwhile, Quezon City 2nd district Rep. Precious Hipolito-Castelo urged the national government to convene a “national flood summit” to prevent flooding similar to what occurred in Metro Manila and Cagayan Valley during the onslaught of typhoon Ulysses.??

Castelo cited the need to come up with a coordinated and synchronized approach in addressing the perennial problem of flooding during typhoons.??

“We have not learned our lesson from Ondoy and past destructive typhoons that visited the country. There must be a comprehensive, holistic and well-coordinated effort to avert flooding. Eleven years after, we faced the same problem. Many of those flooded by Ondoy swear that Ulysses was even worse. What have we done during those 11 years? What measures have we taken to prevent similar flooding?” she pointed out.??

Castelo lamented that the extensive damage and flooding caused by Ondoy was repeated in the same communities – like Marikina and low-lying parts of Quezon City’s second district – during Ulysses.

The vice chair of the House Metro Manila development committee said the damage to lives, property and the economy in general caused by recent typhoons Rolly and Ulysses was “catastrophic, especially considering that these monsters struck us at a time when we are struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”??

“We cannot afford disasters like that. The economy and our people will suffer further,” she stressed.??

She proposed that the flood summit involve all concerned agencies, like the Office of Civil Defense, Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Department of National Defense, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Office of the President.??

“Local government officials should be involved in a comprehensive flooding and disaster response program because they are the implementers and foot soldiers on the ground,” Castelo said.??

She noted that the national government can pattern its flood prevention measures after the programs of some European countries that have successfully contained flooding.