GMA, LOREN TO TAKE PART IN
COPENHAGEN CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - President Gloria Arroyo and Sen. Loren Legarda in an earlier meeting.
Photo courtesy of 'The 2010 Presidentiables' web site]]
MANILA, NOVEMBER 29, 2009 (STAR) President Arroyo and Sen. Loren Legarda will take part in the Copenhagen Climate Change summit in Denmark on Dec. 7 to help the Philippines and other developing countries reduce the impact of climate change and seek compensation from the United States and China for their rampant greenhouse gas emissions.
Speaking at the Manila Overseas Press Club forum at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati Thursday night, Legarda said she will lead the Senate delegation to the conference and Mrs. Arroyo will head the Philippine delegation.
“I believe that the Copenhagen summit is very important because all the preparation towards Copenhagen, especially the Bali Action Plan, will have to be committed to by all developed and developing nations,” she said.
“There are demands for bigger cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the roles of the two biggest nations, who are the biggest polluters, China and the United States.”
Legarda, the UN champion for disaster risk reduction in the Asia-Pacific region, said China is one of the biggest emitters of GHG at 21.5 percent of total gas emissions while the US emits more than 20 percent of global GHG.
“Together they pollute almost half the world,” she said.
Legarda said the US accounts for five times more than China in terms of per capita data of GHG emissions.
“The commitment of the United States under the leadership of President Barack Obama is so essential,” she said.
“It is unfortunate that a vulnerable country like the Philippines – and we are a developing nation with hardly any resources to combat climate change – suffered the brunt of the pollution caused by bigger countries.”
British Ambassador Stephen Lillie said his government will push for a clear timetable to a legally binding treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol during the Copenhagen conference.
The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing GHG emissions.
Commitment period for industrialized countries set in the Protocol expires in 2012.
Lillie made the statement during his opening remarks at a forum organized by the UP School of Economics in collaboration with the British Embassy, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Program in Development Economics.
Entitled “4.8 Degrees to Degradation: The Economics of Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia,” the forum held at UP Diliman was part of a series in celebration of Climate Change Consciousness Week.
Dr. Juzhong Zhuang, Asian Development Bank assistant chief economist, and Alan Silayan, Carbon Finance Solutions managing director, paneled the forum.
“We are determined to reach a comprehensive politically binding agreement at Copenhagen which covers all the major issues: including most importantly binding economy-wide emissions reductions from developed countries, significant action from developing countries to slow their emissions growth, and finance,” Lillie said.
“And we need to see agreement on a clear timetable towards a legally binding treaty to lock in the political agreement we want to reach in Denmark.
“Failure at Copenhagen is not an option. But it will take real political leadership to make certain that we get a deal. At the moment, there are 65 heads of state or government that have pledged to attend the conference and we hope that this political momentum continues.”
In answer to doubts on the veracity of scientific reports on global warming, Zhuang said that even in the face of uncertainties in the science of climate change, governments cannot take the risk of inaction.
“If action is not taken now, it would be too late.”
The highlights of an ADB report released this year showed the effects of global warming in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, Zhuang said.
Temperatures in the four countries are projected to rise 4.8 degrees Celsius by 2100 and the global mean sea level is projected to rise by 70 cm during that same period.
The report warned that if the world continues its “business as usual” approach, the mean cost of climate change for the four countries could be equivalent to losing 6.7 percent of combined GDP each year by 2100 – more than twice the global average loss – if market and non-market impacts and catastrophic risks are considered.
Zhuang stressed the importance of climate-proofing societies through adaptation measures, including better water management and flood defenses, better health surveillance and disease prevention, and safeguarding forests.
Mitigation through the use of renewable energy sources and raising energy efficiency must also be implemented, he added. – Christina Mendez, Mayen Jaymalin, Pia Lee-Brago
GMA signs Climate Change Act By Paolo Romero
(The Philippine Star)
Updated October 24, 2009 12:00
AM
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - President Arroyo holds up a copy of the Climate Change Act of 2009
after she formally signed it into law at Malacanang’s Ceremonial Hall yesterday.
Looking on are (from left) Sen. Loren Legarda, Senate President Juan Ponce
Enrile, Laguna Rep. Maria Evita Arago, Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr.,
Paranaque Rep. Roilo S. Golez, and Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson.
Willy Perez]
MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo approved yesterday a law seeking to lessen the impact of climate change in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Britain warned yesterday that the country would experience more typhoons, floods, droughts, heat waves and crop production shortages as a result of climate change.
Republic Act 9729, the Philippine Climate Change Act of 2009, creates a powerful body that would formulate and implement plans for the country to better prepare for and respond to natural disasters.
It also aims to attract foreign financing for adaptation and risk reduction projects.
Mrs. Arroyo signed the bill into law at Rizal Hall in Malacañang with members of Congress, diplomats, local officials, business leaders, environment advocates, the academe, and religious leaders in attendance.
“The signing into law of the Climate Change Act of 2009 ushers in a new era in the way the Philippines will tackle climate change in both the short and long terms, for the benefit of Filipinos today and for Filipinos yet unborn,” Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement.
The law creates the Climate Change Commission, a policy making body attached to the Office of the President tasked with coordinating, monitoring and evaluating programs and action plans relating to climate change.
Headed by the President, the four-member commission will be autonomous and shall have the same status as a national government agency.
Members of the commission must be experts in the field and will hold office for six years and may be reappointed, provided that no person shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.
Backed by a panel of technical experts, the commission has six months upon the law’s effectivity to come up with the National Framework Strategy and Program on Climate Change.
The commission’s advisory board will be composed of heads of concerned government departments as well as representatives from the academe, the business sector, non-government organizations, and from the disaster-risk reduction community.
In a statement, British Embassy charge d’affaires Colin Crorkin said storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” gave a glimpse of what’s in store if climate change is neglected.
“The UK congratulates the Philippine government’s step in the right direction with the Climate Change Act, which was signed into law by Pres. Arroyo today,” he said.
Crorkin was citing a new map illustrating the global consequences of failing to keep climate change in check.
“Food shortage, disease and conflict as a result become very real possibilities,” he said.
“We also welcome the Philippines’ strong stand on climate change issues in the international stage.”
The new map was launched today by the UK Government, with 45 days to go before international climate change talks begin in Copenhagen.
British ministers are pressing for the most ambitious deal possible in order to avoid these dangerous impacts.
The map, launched at the Science Museum by UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Climate and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, along with the UK’s Chief Scientist John Beddington, was developed using the latest peer-reviewed science from the Met Office Hadley Centre and other leading impact scientists.
The poster highlights some of the impacts that may occur if the global average temperature rises by four degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial climate average.
Ahead of December’s international climate change talks in Copenhagen, the Government is aiming for an agreement that limits climate change as far as possible to 2 degrees Celsius. Increases of more than 2 degrees will have huge impacts on the world.
The poster shows that the average land temperature will be 5.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The impacts on human activity shown on the map are only a selection of those that may occur, and highlight the severe effects on water availability, agricultural productivity, extreme temperatures and drought, the risk of forest fires and sea level rise.
Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez, principal author of RA 9729 in the House of Representatives, said an executive director to be appointed by the President would head the commission’s technical staff.
“It is hoped that a technically competent person with solid climate change and science credentials will be appointed executive director,” he said.
Golez said the first challenge for the commission is participation in the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.
“Developing countries are worried that reducing carbon emissions would hinder their growth, while developed nations do not want climate change measures to slow down their economies and change the lifestyle of their peoples,” he said.– With Donnabelle Gatdula, Pia Lee-Brago, Jess Diaz