UNYAP participated in the National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation + 2

Mr. Angelito Francis B. Veloso, Ms. Katherine Santos and Ma. Kristel Georgia Mendoza of PNU-UNESCO Club and UNYAP participated in the National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation +2 last October 26 to 28, 2009 in Diamond Hotel in Metro Manila. The three youth leaders attended the conference in order to promote the newly formed group in Bangkok, Thailand – The Asia Pacific Youth Network on Climate Change (AYCC). AYCC – Philippine Chapter were able to meet with various delegates from the conference in Diamond Hotel.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivered the keynote speech at the opening of the three-day conference on Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) with Environment Secretary Jose Atienza Jr.; Heherson Alvarez, Presidential Adviser on Climate Change; Senator Loren Legarda, Chairperson, Standing Committee on Climate Change; and German Ambassador Christian Ludwig Weber Lortsch as resource persons.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda, the lead convenor of the conference, said the discussions focused on the gains of the first convention after two years of concerted efforts and how national and local policies have been translated into action in the light of international developments.

Participants from national agencies and local governments, the academe, non-government organizations and other interest groups were informed of the developments in domestic and international policy discussions on climate change, particularly adaptation as it relates to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and mitigation.

Salceda said the conference with the theme “Moving Forward on Albay Declaration 2007” aims to identify the Philippine Strategic Framework on Climate Change Adaptation.

The conference also provided a venue for knowledge sharing on CCA and disaster risk management and give a thematic platform of Regional Development Council (RDC) cooperation towards a common agencda in moving forward CCA and DRR and management initiatives.

It also looked into the progress of international policy discussions on CCA and DRR and management and the country's action agenda on CCA on technology transfer, financing, capacity building and research and development.

The second conference was organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the provincial government of Albay, National Economic and Development Authority and the Republic of Germany, which is the funding institution.
Manuel Rangaza, Executive Director of the Centre for Initiatives and Research on Climate Change Adaptation (CIRCA) said it is expected that the NCCA +2 would list the various CCA best practices and science-based information.

A consensus also drawn with national, regional and local governance framework strategies for the Philippine Strategic Framework on Climate Change Adaptation.
Rangaza said the framework was consistent with the international commitment for sustainable development, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the CCA framework in the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA).

Some 300 representatives from local government units, key support institutions and international development partners joined the NCCA conference.

Salceda said Albay spearheaded the First National Conference of Climate Change Adaptation in October 2007, which brought the concern on CCA, exploring concrete adaptation options to address the potential impacts of climate change and discuss the policy implications for local government units.

He said “it is now widely recognized that climate change is real and a major threat to social, environmental, economic and human development.”

The Asia Pacific region suffers the most from extreme weather events and these will likely increase with climate change, the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas will increase flooding and rock avalanches, affecting water resources within the next two to three decades.

Study also indicates that coastal areas will be at greatest risk due to increased flooding from the sea and flooding from the rivers.

The Philippines, being an archipelagic country composed of more than 7,000 small islands, is highly vulnerable to climate related hazards. People have to cope with an average of 20 tropical cyclones a year, the study said. (PNA)