Group urges President Aquino of the Philippines to make adaptation a national priority

Jonathan Mayuga in the Business Mirror (Philippines): A coalition of civil-society organizations (CSOs) and individual experts involved in local and international development work and climate-policy negotiations is urging President Aquino to take the cudgels up for the poor by making climate-change adaptation a national priority when he makes his plans for the country known in his first State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 26.

Rowena Bolinas, coordinator of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, said that while Mr. Aquino has made strong public impression about his propoor agenda, he has never mentioned climate change even in his inaugural address nor as a core issue in his campaign. The group wants CSOs’ climate change and pro-poor agenda adopted by the Aquino administration.

Mr. Aquino is the concurrent chairman of the Climate Change Commission (CCC), the government agency tasked to promote climate-change mitigation and adaptation measures. He also sits as chairman of the National Antipoverty Commission, whose main task is coordinate the government’s antipoverty programs.

According to Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, about two-thirds, or 61 percent, of the country’s poor directly depend on sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and forestry that are gravely affected by climate change. About 3 million, or 25 percent, of total labor force employed in these sectors are women. “Since these people are poor, they are the least able to adapt and survive climate-related disasters,” Dennis Calvan of the NGOs for Fisheries Reform said for his part…

Satellite image of Luzon, Northern Philippines