The Climate Change Commission (CCC) and First Gen Corporation (First Gen) have forged ties to capacitate local government units (LGUs) in mainstreaming climate change and accessing the People's Survival Fund (PSF).
The ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was led by CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director (VCED) Robert E.A. Borje and First Gen President and Chief Operating Officer Francis Giles B. Puno in Antipolo City on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
The partnership aims to capacitate representatives from Maria Aurora, Aurora; Pantabangan and Carrangalan in Nueva Ecija; Alfonso Castañeda, Nueva Vizcaya; Lobo, Batangas; and Caramoan and Garchitorena in Camarines Sur.
The LGUs of Baungon, Impasug-ong, Libona, Manolo Fortich, and Talakag in Bukidnon; and Jabonga in Agusan del Norte would also benefit from the partnership.
According to the CCC, the partnership aims to enhance Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAPs), including updated climate and disaster risk assessments and greenhouse gas inventory and developing PSF project proposals.
As of Jan. 19. a total of 1,399 out of 1,715 LGUs (81.57 percent) have submitted their LCCAPs to the CCC. The Commission hopes to achieve 100 percent compliance through partnerships and capacity-building initiatives by 2024.
This collaboration forms part of the CCC and First Gen's shared advocacy for strengthening local communities' resilience to climate change and its impacts.
"Our LGUs, down to the barangays, are at the frontlines of climate change and its impacts. They need all the help they can get to have a fighting chance, but they also need transformation," Borje said.
"We don't want them to just adapt, we want them to thrive and grow, and this particular agreement—through the formulation of eLCCAPs and capacitating them to access the PSF—will exactly do that," he added.
Puno acknowledged its partnership with the CCC, saying it would help achieve its mission of forging collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future.
"Signing an agreement with the Climate Change Commission is completely aligned with what our company is trying to do in addressing an important challenge that's ahead of us – climate change," he said.
The CCC and First Gen will also strengthen initiatives that involve key stakeholders to promote science- and evidence-based risk assessment and sustain climate-smart leadership and governance among the target beneficiaries.
"At the end of the day, we have to safeguard our national interests, which for us means, 'Buhay, kabuhayan, at kinabukasan ang nakataya' (Lives, livelihood, and the future are at stake)," Borje said.
"That's all we have to plan for, but it takes more than a village to do this. We need to work very closely together, and this partnership is key to making that happen," he added.
Following the MOA signing, seedlings of Narra, Ipil, Banuyo, and Supa trees were planted at the BINHI Arboretum to kick off the partnership.
The CCC was formed under Republic Act 9729, or the Climate Change Act, signed on Oct. 23, 2009.
Meanwhile, according to its website, First Gen is one of the leading providers of clean and renewable power in the Philippines.