Newly formed Climate Change Commission seeks P2-billion budget

MANILA, Philippines – The newly formed Climate Change Commission is proposing a P2-billion budget this year, the same amount originally allocated to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for reforestation.

Climate Change commissioner and former Environment Undersecretary Lucille Sering also recommended that each government agency should set aside a portion of its budget for activities related to environmental protection and climate change.

The commission, which is directly under the Office of the President, is in the process of formulating a medium-term plan and a policy framework in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the DENR.

“We would be initially satisfied if we can get a portion of the P2 billion that should have gone to reforestation,” Sering said in a climate change forum arranged by the World Bank.

“The challenge likewise for the commission is how to convince other government agencies and the local government units on how to address the worsening climate conditions, and the importance of their role in improving the conditions,” Sering said.

She likewise asked for more official development assistance (ODA) in the form of grants to cover expenses related to technology transfer.

The commission is also holding talks with rural banks, being the only financial institution that reach out to the grassroots.

“They must be more responsive, and they should be more informed of green technology. They should also be able to transfer these technology to the agriculture sector,” Sering said.

Meanwhile, World Bank climate change specialist Alexander Lotsch said that the Philippines contribute a negligible 0.27 percent of global greenhouse emissions.

But it is also one of the Asian countries most affected by climate change. “After typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, it was not hard to convince Filipinos about the impact of climate change,” Lotsch added.

High-income countries, like the United States, account for 64 percent of the damaging carbon emissions but experience only 20 percent of the damage resulting from climate change.

In contrast, developing countries like the Philippines, contribute only 36 percent of emissions but absorb 80 percent of the destruction directly related to climate change.

In its World Development Report 2010, the World Bank said the climate change factors and vulnerabilities in East Asia and Pacific region include growing demand for energy, changes in land use and deforestation, vulnerable coastal populations, water availability, floods, and disease, and economic impact of climate change.

Lotsch said meeting the challenges of climate change cannot simply be a choice between economic growth and climate change, but will require climate-smart policies that enhance development, reduce vulnerability, and finance the transition to low-carbon growth paths.

“Economic growth alone will not be fast or equitable enough to counter threats from climate change, particularly if it remains carbon intensive and accelerates global warming,” he stressed.

The report said energy efficiency measures have the largest potential to save energy both on the energy supply side (as in the burning of coal, oil, and gas and the production, transmission and distribution of electricity) and the demand side (use of energy in buildings, transport and manufacturing). The second largest source of emission reductions could come from low-to-zero emission fuels for power generation – particularly renewable energy. –Ted P. Torres (The Philippine Star)