Lawmaker pushes for creation of climate change dep’t

In the wake of another typhoon pummeling Eastern Visayas, a Bicol lawmaker pushed last weekend for the creation of the Department of Climate Change, which would institute long-term measures to reduce risks from natural disasters.

“We need a Department of Climate Change not next year nor tomorrow, but now,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said.

“Our country may be one of Asia’s fastest growing economies, but this rapid growth rate can only be sustained if we are prepared to meet the challenges brought about by climate change and learn to adapt and respond quickly to its destructive effects on various facets of our lives,” he said.

He said 62 percent of Filipinos live in 1,490 coastal towns, with half them vulnerable to storms and typhoons, and over 13 million people at risk of losing homes because of rising sea levels.

He added that a recent study showed that much of the population of Southeast Asia, where the Philippines is situated, live along 81,000 miles of low-lying coastlines, further heightening the region’s vulnerability to extreme weather events.

Villafuerte noted that the United Nations Economic and Social Council recently cited the urgency of putting in place long-term measures to mitigate the effects of climate change.

He said the council called for more investments in disaster risk reduction, including preparedness, early warning and early action and increased spending on climate-resilient infrastructure and housing.

“Climate change could upset not only our medium to long-term economic development plans, but also trigger a health crisis as global warming continues to worsen air pollution, and boost the spread of potentially fatal diseases. A unified, well-coordinated and comprehensive response is needed to deal with these climate-related emergencies,” he said.

Villafuerte’s Bill No. 6131 seeks “to harmonize disjointed efforts by various offices to deal with the impact of climate change through the creation of the Department of Climate Change.”

He said the measure proposes a single specialized agency “that will function not only after the occurrence of disasters, but will work all-yearround to build the country’s capacity and management of climate change.”

Such agency would also strengthen the planning, execution and financing framework for climate change; enof hance leadership and accountability through monitoring, evaluation and review of climate change policies and activities; and ensure effective mechanisms even before disaster strikes, he said.

He pointed out that the government could not fully achieve President Duterte’s high and inclusive growth agenda unless the country is best equipped to deal with erratic weather patterns triggered by climate change.

He stressed that every destructive typhoon season leads to losses equivalent to two percent of gross domestic product and requires postdisaster reconstruction efforts costing an equivalent of another two percent of GDP.

On average, about 20 tropical cyclones enter Philippine waters each year, with eight or nine making landfall, Villafuerte noted.