Legarda to SUCs: Help LGUs implement climate laws

Sen. Loren Legarda urged state universities and colleges (SUCs) to assist local government units (LGUs) in implementing laws on climate and environment.

Legarda stressed decisive action at the local level is crucial in ensuring the survival of present and future generations.

She cited Section 16 of the Climate Change law, which calls for the coordination of LGUs with various sectors – including academe – in the development and implementation of Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAPs).

Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on climate change, said the SUCs’ role on the ground is crucial as they can assist in formulating and enhancing these LCCAPs.

“We need to fast-track the creation of the LCCAP of all cities, municipalities and provinces in the country. These LCCAPs can be the tools to access grant-based funding from the People’s Survival Fund, and even from international climate funds,” Legarda said during a meeting with officials from various SUCs at the Senate last week.

“With the available historical and cultural information that you (SUCs) already have, and the technical expertise for research and development, you will give the heart and soul to these action plans,” she said.

Legarda said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), through its several circulars, has acknowledged the vital role played by academe as “service providers in terms of training on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation-related concerns, hazard mapping, risk and vulnerability assessment.”