‘2017 budget to hew to climate commitments’
Sen. Loren Legarda has vowed to include provisions in the proposed P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017 that will help the country comply with its commitments in various global pacts on sustainability and climate change.
Legarda, who chairs the Senate finance committee that is deliberating on the proposed budget, issued the statement in commemorating United Nations Day last Monday.
She expressed her commitment to help in the efforts for the Philippines to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among other global commitments of the country.
“I’m helping our government ensure that the national budget is attuned to the SDGs, which are global aims to end poverty and hunger, improve health and education, make cities more sustainable, combat climate change, promote peace and justice for all, and protect the environment and biodiversity,” the senator said in a statement.
She said addressing the climate change and sustainable development nexus requires a firm grip on financing and resilience issues.
“Setting a development agenda is just one part of the story. Without realistically addressing the problems of today’s climate realities and its risks, as well as financing, the lofty goals we have established on paper will remain just that – goals,” she said.
She said in 2015, the global community adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in May; the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or SDGs in September; and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in December.
Recently, UN member states adopted the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The amendment, seen as a historic breakthrough in the fight to save humanity and the Earth from climate change impacts, aims to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that were found to largely contribute to global warming
She said the finance committee was able to transform this year’s budget into one that is “climate-adaptive and disaster-resilient.”
“We have mainstreamed provisions that ensure the implementation of government programs would contribute towards building resilience. We will continue to do this in the 2017 national budget,” Legarda said.
Under the 2016 General Appropriations Act, the implementation of programs, projects and activities should contribute towards preventing the creation of new disaster risks as well as reducing such risks, building the resilience of local communities and the nation as a whole; towards achieving the goals under the Sendai Framework for DRR, the SDGs, and the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions.