June 18, 2023 Sunday
BONN, GERMANY, 18 June 2023 – The Philippines and the Holy See underscored the need for and importance of ecosystem stewardship in order to advance meaningful and transformative climate action and agreed to explore ways by which stewardship could be pushed in appropriate fora within and outside the United Nations system.
Meeting at the sidelines of the 58th Session of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB58) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Climate Change Commission Secretary Robert E.A. Borje, Head of Delegation of the Philippines, and Monsignor John Kallarackal, Head of Delegation of the Holy See, underscored the importance of cooperation in ramping education programs on both climate change and of human stewardship to better protect and manage ecosystems and natural resources.
Secretary Borje underlined that climate change is a “global, systemic and historic issue that needs” and that human beings and institutions responsible for taking care of the environment have to work to bring about meaningful and transformative action, particularly through education.
“Education plays a crucial role in addressing climate change. We need to empower our youth and adults through education on intergenerational responsibility in order to change what is now a story of devastation into a story of transformation. We need to start them young,” said Secretary Borje.
Monsignor Kallarackal meanwhile shared that promoting education was one of the efforts of the Holy See at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
He said, “The Holy See recognizes the importance of education in the fight against climate change, thus, promoted education, lifestyle and behavioral change, as well as lobbied for net-zero, in COP27.”
Both officials also agreed that loss and damage funding (LDF) is vital to helping vulnerable countries to climate change, such as the Philippines, to recover quickly.
Secretary Borje emphasized that “expeditious, stable and predictable disbursement of LDF is key to helping developing countries to recover from the loss and damage resulting from the impacts of climate change.”
Both Secretary Borje and Monsignor Kallarackal also recalled with great reflection Typhoon Yolanda and its impacts on the Philippines, underscoring the need to learn from lessons and continuing education to further increase awareness and capacities to address and respond to such severe extreme climate events.
For updates on the Philippines’ participation in SB58, visit the Climate Change Commission’s website at https://climate.gov.ph and www.facebook.com/cccphl.
