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Appendix 1
CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE PHILIPPINES
by: Director G. CARLOS A. GARCIA VI 1
Climate Change Commission
Office of the President
Republic of the Philippines
Background Paper for Conference on the
“The Environment of the Poor”
24‐26 November 2010, New Delhi
Background:
The Philippines, an archipelagic nation of over 90 million people, now faces threats
from more intense tropical cyclones, drastic changes in rainfall patterns, sea level rise, and
increasing temperatures. All these hinder poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
These factors contribute to serious impacts on our natural ecosystems—on our river
basins, coastal and marine systems, and their biodiversity—which cascades to impacts on
food security, water resources, human health, public infrastructure, energy, and human
settlements.
The country is ranked one of the highest in the world in terms of vulnerability to
tropical cyclone occurrence, and third in terms of people exposed to such seasonal events.
An average of 20 typhoons traverses the country yearly, causing physical and economic
devastation.
Climate variability increasingly induces drought during El Niño episodes and floods
during La Niña. Consequently, the Philippines face increasing disaster risks with
geologic/seismic dangers closely interacting with such meteorological hazards.
On greenhouse gas emissions, the Philippines ranked 43rd in terms of total CO2
emissions with 71 million metric tons produced in 2007, representing only 0.24% of global
emissions. The country’s per capita CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2007 are
0.8 metric tons, a decrease of 0.1 metric tons from 1990 levels. Between 1990 and 2007, per
capita CO2 emissions ranged between 0.7 and 1.0 metric tons.
Impacts on key sectors:
Climate change directly affects key Philippine sectors such as ecosystems, food,
water, human health, infrastructure and energy. Human society is greatly influenced,
affecting poverty incidence in the country as well as human development.
1
Deputy Executive Director, Climate Change Office, Climate Change Commission
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One of the major impacts of climate change in the Philippines is on food security.
The Philippine is an agriculturally‐dependent country wherein agriculture represents 1/5 of
the total economy (18% of GDP). But the country’s agricultural sector is very sensitive to the
impacts of climate change.
Food and water resources have been greatly affected by the increasing frequency
and intensity of extreme weather events. Vulnerabilities in both the short and long terms
require building the resilience of our food production systems through the mainstreaming of
sustainable agriculture and aquaculture and related developments in the sector.
With the nation’s diverse ecosystem and rich natural resources, the loss of forest
cover and degradation of coastal and marine resources are also greatly influenced by
climate change. Adaptation strategies must be put in place to help these ecosystems cope
with climate change.
Also, the existing human‐induced threats to biodiversity are compounded by the
adverse impacts of climate change on terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna. Temperature
level rise may result to biodiversity migration and may disrupt the relationship of different
species which will highly affected species survival.
Infrastructure facilities are also threatened by climate change due to direct exposure
to prolonged and frequent rainfall, strong winds, higher waves and temperature variations.
The impacts could be damaging to critical areas—such as power lines, transportation
systems, school buildings, hospitals, dams—which could not cope with the effects of climate
change.
The Philippines is also lacking behind in new infrastructure standards of a growing
economy. With a strategic framework in place, priorities may be set that could keep pace on
new infrastructure requirements.
Also, disaster preparedness must give way to disaster risk management which will
expand and upgrade the country’s capacity to address and anticipate disaster such as
typhoons, floods and landslides. It will bring a renewed focus on science‐based early
warning systems and capacity building to the country.
The energy sector is also greatly affected by climate change since energy
technologies, particularly on power generation from sources that rely greatly on the climate
for its resource. With changes in precipitation, wind speed and cloudiness, green energy
technologies will be affected.
Philippine Response:
Aware of the implications of climate change in the country’s poverty alleviation and
promotion of sustainable development, the Philippines has taken various steps in the battle
against the adverse effects of climate change.
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In October 2009, the Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act No. 9729 otherwise
known as the “Climate Change Act of 2009,” which seeks to mainstream climate change in
all government policies, plans and programs, with emphasis on disaster risk reduction (DRR).
This landmark law also established the Climate Change Commission (CCC) as the
sole coordinating center and policy‐making agency of government on climate change, with
the Philippine President as chairman, and at least 14 Cabinet Secretaries as members of an
Advisory Board to the Commission.
This effectively brought climate change into the forefront of Philippine governance,
with practically the entire bureaucracy behind this major program, with no less than the
President at the helm.
The Philippines, as a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), is committed to its core principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities and respective capabilities. Thus, in April 2010, the Commission has
formulated the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change (NFSCC) (Figure I)
detailing the objectives of government in dealing with climate change.
The NFSCC is the country’s roadmap towards a program on climate change
mitigation and adaptation with DRR, that will serve as the basis for a national program on
climate change and establish an agenda upon which the Philippines would pursue a dynamic
process of determining actions versus climate disasters.
Vision. In order to be guided in the implementation of the Framework, the
Commission adopted a vision and a goal. It envisions a climate risk‐resilient Philippines with
healthy, safe, prosperous and self‐reliant communities, and thriving and productive
ecosystems.
Goal. Through this Framework, our national goal is to build the adaptive capacity of
our communities and increase the resilience of natural ecosystems to climate change, and
optimize mitigation opportunities towards sustainable development.
Strategies versus Climate Change:
The Framework was formulated within the context of the country’s sustainable
development goals that affect the county’s ability to respond to climate change.
It is also in accordance with the UNFCCC’s two‐pronged approach to combat climate
change—thru mitigation and adaptation. However, this Framework treats mitigation as a
function of adaptation, cognizant of the vulnerability of key sectors of Philippine society.
Like most developing countries, the Philippines’ contribution to the total global GHG
emissions is insignificant compared to the rest of the world.
Nonetheless, the Philippines embarks on a mitigation strategy to contribute to the
global effort to reduce emissions, pursuing cost‐effective measures to reduce GHG
emissions such as increased energy efficiency and conservation, development and increased
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utilization of appropriate low carbon and renewable energy technologies, and reducing
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).
The mitigation strategy shall therefore be in the form of Nationally‐Appropriate
Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). These are mitigation actions that will not hamper our
economic growth.
And because of our geophysical and socio‐economic characteristics, more emphasis
is being given on adaptation to risks associated with climate change disasters.
Mitigation. The Mitigation Pillar has six (6) key result areas (KRAs), each with its own
objective and strategic priorities. These are:
1. Energy Efficiency and Conservation
2. Renewable Energy
3. Environmentally Sustainable Transport
4. Sustainable Infrastructure
5. National REDD+ Strategy
6. Waste Management
Adaptation. On the other hand, the Adaptation Pillar has the following seven (7) key
result areas and their respective objectives and strategic priorities:
1. Enhanced Vulnerability & Adaptation Assessments
2. Integrated Ecosystem‐based Management, broken down as:
a. River Basin Management
b. Coastal and Marine Systems
c. Biodiversity
3. Water Governance and Management
4. Climate‐Responsive Agriculture
5. Climate‐Responsive Health Sector
6. Climate‐Proofing Infrastructure
The framework laid out a solid national mitigation and adaptation structure on
climate change. It will ensure and strengthen the adaptation of our natural ecosystems and
human communities to climate change, and the strategic priorities in different sectors will
prepare the nation to be resilient to climate change.
In the process, the framework aspires to chart a cleaner and greener development
path for the Philippines, highlighting the mutually beneficial relationship between climate
change mitigation and adaptation.
The framework adopts the Philippine Agenda 21 for Sustainable Development which
fulfills human needs while maintaining the quality of the natural environment for current
and future generations.
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Figure 1. National Framework Strategy on Climate Change (NFSCC)
National Climate Change Action Plan. Within one year from the formulation of the
NFSCC, the Commission is also tasked to create the National Climate Change Action Plan
(NCCAP), which zeroes in on specific programs of action in the many sectors that are either
affected by climate change or are causing it, directly or indirectly.
The NCCAP will address the need to develop a realistically achievable country‐driven
program of action for integrated climate change adaptation and mitigation. It will
specifically develop a program of priority activities addressing the urgent and immediate
needs and concerns of the Philippines relating to the adverse effects of climate change.
And because the Framework recognizes the role of agencies and their respective
mandates as provided by law, it upholds the principle of subsidiarity on the role of the local
governments as front‐liners in addressing climate change.
Thus, after a national action plan has been adopted, the NCCAP will then be
conveyed down to the provinces, cities and municipalities and translated into Local Climate
Change Action Plans (LCCAP) that will best suit the different needs of various Philippines
communities.
Through all these efforts, the Philippine government seeks to translate to all levels of
governance our national efforts towards integrated mitigation, adaptation and DRR action
that shall ultimately render the sectors climate‐resilient, thereby opening up opportunities
of green growth for the environmental economy of the poor.
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