Solon pushes to ramp up climate change measures

Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda led the opening of 12th year of our country’s observance of Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week today at One Esplanade. (Photo: Congresswoman Loren Legarda/Facebook)

MANILA — House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda on Tuesday urged all sectors to help address climate change issues by building more sustainable communities.

During the observance of the 12th Annual Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week, Legarda noted that policies on climate change adaptation measures should be operationalized.

“We just speak about policies, yes. But we should operationalize these policies and make the science work for us,” she said in a forum.

She said the call to accelerate and enhance action in addressing the impacts of climate change has never been more crucial, saying the country should push adaptive measures to offset potential damages of the recurring changes in climate.

“The latest climate science has repeatedly articulated the worst-case and best-case scenarios for communities, for government, for citizens as we confront the adverse impact of climate change. We’ve reached what we call that point of no return,” she added.

She said the government must go beyond and beneath its comfort zone so that the communities can be more resilient in confronting climate change issues.

Legarda laid down some environmental adaptation measures such as tree planting, growing endemic plants, food wastes converted as fertilizers/compits, pushing early warning systems, rainwater reservations, vegetable planting, and energy conservation.

In the previous months, several international reports on the impact of climate change have been launched locally here in the Philippines including its effect on land and ocean.

She also encouraged the Climate Change Commission (CCC) to “simplify and operationalize” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) reports in a bid to make it easier for the various stakeholders and the public to understand the impacts of climate change events.

She said there’s a need to better communicate climate science into information that communities can easily appreciate and understand as well as to ensure the policies and programs which can enhance the resilience of the most vulnerable communities, to initiate or support adaptation and mitigation efforts on climate change.

Legarda was the author of Republic Act No. 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009, which establishes a framework strategy and program on climate change as well as creating the Climate Change Commission.

Meanwhile, Legarda also renewed her call to ban single-use plastics.

“We should start thinking about, and/or doing a circular economy. When you produce something, you should know how it’s used, where it goes and how it integrates in a natural way into the environment,” Legarda said during the press briefing.

She also vowed to continue becoming an environmental champion along with the other government agencies.