Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda commended on Wednesday, Aug. 17 United States (US) President Joe Biden for signing into law a legislation addressing climate change.
The law, according to Legarda, seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about one billion tons in 2030.
The Inflation Reduction Act will raise over $700 billion in government revenue over 10 years and spend over $430 billion to reduce carbon emissions.
Legarda, an environmentalist, said the Philippines has laws for climate change mitigation and adaptation such as Republic Act (RA) No. 9729 or the Climate Change Act and its amendatory law, the RA 10174 or People’s Survival Fund (PSF), among others.
The PSF is the country’s local adaptation fund meant to provide grants to local government units (LGUs) and organizations for their projects and programs that can help communities and ecosystems cope with the impacts of climate change.
The fund is annually allocated with P1 billion and may be augmented by other sources.
It is managed by the PSF Board, which is chaired by the Department of Finance (DOF) and includes representatives from other government agencies such as the National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, and Climate Change Commission (CCC), the academe, business sector organizations, and civil society. The Board considers the presence of multiple climate hazards, poverty incidence, and key biodiversity areas in the approval of proposals from LGUs.
‘'We still have a long way to go in climate mitigation, and adaptation. Much still has to be done,’’ she emphasized.
Legarda said that in pursuit of climate change mitigation and adaptation, various laws on environmental and climate action have been passed, such as the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System, Marine Pollution Control law, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, Renewable Energy Act, Environmental Awareness and Education Act, Climate Change Act and its amendatory law creating the People's Survival Fund, Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act, Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act, Green Jobs Act, Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, and Extended Producer Responsibility Act.
‘’We also have Republic Act No. 11639, or the 2022 General Appropriations Act, which mandates all agencies of the government to "implement projects incorporating risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and where feasible, climate change mitigation in light of intensifying hazards,’’ she pointed out.
‘’The effective implementation of these are vital to the country's sustainable growth and development,’’ she added.