DENR, Radio Veritas partners for climate-change awareness
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has partnered with Catholic Church-owned Radio Veritas in providing the public with better understanding of climate change and other environmental issues through a weekly radio program.
The radio program, entitled “Ang Tinig ng Klima” and aired every Saturday from 8 a. m. to 9 a. m., is hosted by Radio Veritas anchor Riza Mendoza and DENR Undersecretary for Climate Change Service Analiza Rebuelta Teh.
Its theme, “Nagbabago na ang Panahon, Panahon na para Magbago” draws inspiration from Laudato Si’ ( On Care for Our Common Home), the encyclical letter of Pope Francis addressing man’s destruction of the environment and its threat to man’s relationship with nature and one another.
“This program aims for values transformation,” Teh explained. “There is so much we need to change in our lifestyle to prevent further degradation of our environment and to address climate change.”
She said people can start with waste segregation and proper waste disposal, noting that the Philippines is the third contributor of marine litter in the world, and ranks third on the list of countries most vulnerable to climate change.
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu has listed as among his priorities solid waste management, clean air and clean water.
Teh said the DENR-led Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction has prepared a road map, which iden- tified as a primary action the need to make communities and infrastructure resilient to climate change.
On its pilot episode aired last Octpber 7, the program discussed Climate Change 101 with guests Rosalina de Guzman of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) and Yzabella Nazal of World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Youth Council.
De Guzman said climate change is based on a 30-year data on temperature and rainfall monitored by Pagasa.
Data from Pagasa stations all over the country shows a rise in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall and a marked difference in temperature with more warm days and fewer cold days.
“Typhoons get their strength from water bodies. When the seas are warmer, stronger typhoons are formed,” de Guzman said.
Temperature rise, she added, has melted glaciers and caused sea level rise.
Teh said some 822 coastal municipalities are vulnerable to sea level rise and susceptible to storm surges.
Naza encouraged use of ecobags and metal straws instead of plastic straws and called for support to sustainable tourism. “Use the social media to remind people of the need to conserve energy.”
An international non-government organization with focus on environmental conservation, WWF is the organizer of the Earth Hour, an annual event held every March that seeks to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by switching off electricity for an hour.