Manila, Philippines 23 May 2019 – The Climate Change Commission (CCC), pursuant to law, is updating the National Climate Change Action Plan 2011-2028 (NCCAP) with a whole-of-government-and-society approach.
“We are updating the NCCAP to advance climate actions based on the country’s current development priorities, climate finance strategies, and research and development needs,” CCC Secretary Emmanuel De Guzman said.
When completed, the updated NCCAP will articulate two component plans: the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) that presents the climate actions in seven priority areas, and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that defines the country’s pathway for low-carbon development consistent with the 1.5°C long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
Guided by the President’s policy direction to address climate change without impeding the country’s economic development, De Guzman said the NDC will serve as a ready reference for investments in innovative and transformative low-carbon projects for the country’s green economic growth and sustainable industrial development.
“Although we emit only less than half of one percent of the global emissions, submitting an ambitious NDC in the context of our national capability and circumstance is critical in enjoining other nations to heed the call for urgent and ambitious action,” De Guzman said. “We will pursue mitigation as a function of adaptation, which is the country’s anchor climate action strategy,” he added.
Aside from the NCCAP and NDC, the CCC is also fast-tracking the development of standards and certification system for providing incentives to enterprises that generate and sustain green jobs, pursuant to its mandate under Republic Act No. 101 or the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016. CCC is also developing a framework for mainstreaming culture-sensitive climate actions of indigenous peoples’ communities in local development plans.
All these government initiatives are further strengthened by the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which contains over 30 general and specific provisions that mainstream and advance the country’s climate and disaster resilience agenda.
“Since 2014, our annual budget laws have included general and specific provisions that mainstream and advance the country’s climate and disaster resilience agenda,” De Guzman noted. “This year’s budget law is no different. It reiterates the mandates and responsibilities of agencies under the country’s landmark laws on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction,” he added.
One of the special provisions of the 2019 GAA is for the Department of Education to ensure the integration of climate change adaptation, mitigation (CCAM), and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the regular subjects in both public and private schools.
To ensure that the CCAM and DRR measures are appropriate and responsive in the light of intensifying natural hazards, this year’s budget law also requires multi-scenario, probabilistic risk analysis for all national government projects to be implemented. Pursuant to this, the CCC recently adopted the National Climate Risk Management Framework—an approach for the systematic generation, consolidation, and exchange of climate risk data and information to inform national and local development and investment planning.
Another vital provision of the 2019 GAA is the establishment of multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning systems, including the development and enhancement of protocols for early warning and early action. Related to this, the CCC is facilitating the development of a national integrated risk information system that is accessible to all stakeholders and a national loss and damage registry that uses standard metrics and protocols for valuation and validation.
“This year is another busy year for the Commission. In pursuit of our mandates under the law, the CCC will continue to ensure the efficient, effective, and synergistic implementation of climate actions at the national and local levels,” De Guzman said.
