Manila Bulletin
Philippines
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Marcos urges public to adopt circular economy vs climate change
Philippines
National
Marcos urges public to adopt circular economy vs climate change
Marcos urges public to adopt circular economy vs climate change
Published Jul 24, 2023 01:36 pm
As the Philippines maintains its climate change commitments by reducing its carbon footprint, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. urged the public to adopt the concept of circular economy.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Noel B. Pabalate)
Marcos told the citizenry that "we can never lose sight of our responsibility to the future," stressing that the government's economic agenda "cannot and will not ever be incompatible" with its climate change agenda. He pointed out that climate change is now an important criterion in the country's integral national policies, planning, decision-making, and up to the implementation of programs. "The potential advantages of such enlightened policies extend to jobs and livelihood, with the unlocking of the development of the green and blue economies," he said in his 1-hour and 10-minute State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 24. With this, he called for the public’s strong participation in the adoption of the concept of circular economy to reduce the detrimental impacts of climate change in the country. "We remain committed to global decarbonization goals, and the reduction of our carbon footprint. We preserve and protect the treasure that is our forests. Their value to the environment, to the ecology, and the economy is incalculable," the Chief Executive said. "We have adopted the concept of the 'circular economy', using nature as our model. The aim is to keep raw materials in a closed loop. In our world with scarce resources, the circular economy allows us to fully use these resources, minimize waste and reduce the need for new resources—just as it is in nature," he added. The President stressed that only a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach will enable the country to do all of these. "Just like our climate change action, this new system requires the participation of all sectors of society, up to each individual citizen, for it to succeed," he said. Marcos also said that the government is reorganizing its response teams to make them more adaptable, agile, and effective in times of calamities and crises, "with a clear unity of command." Evacuation centers, he added, are being upgraded to withstand the "new normal" of extreme weather and other natural and man-made disasters. New evacuation centers are also being built, of which 55 have already been completed, he noted.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Noel B. Pabalate)
Marcos told the citizenry that "we can never lose sight of our responsibility to the future," stressing that the government's economic agenda "cannot and will not ever be incompatible" with its climate change agenda. He pointed out that climate change is now an important criterion in the country's integral national policies, planning, decision-making, and up to the implementation of programs. "The potential advantages of such enlightened policies extend to jobs and livelihood, with the unlocking of the development of the green and blue economies," he said in his 1-hour and 10-minute State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 24. With this, he called for the public’s strong participation in the adoption of the concept of circular economy to reduce the detrimental impacts of climate change in the country. "We remain committed to global decarbonization goals, and the reduction of our carbon footprint. We preserve and protect the treasure that is our forests. Their value to the environment, to the ecology, and the economy is incalculable," the Chief Executive said. "We have adopted the concept of the 'circular economy', using nature as our model. The aim is to keep raw materials in a closed loop. In our world with scarce resources, the circular economy allows us to fully use these resources, minimize waste and reduce the need for new resources—just as it is in nature," he added. The President stressed that only a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach will enable the country to do all of these. "Just like our climate change action, this new system requires the participation of all sectors of society, up to each individual citizen, for it to succeed," he said. Marcos also said that the government is reorganizing its response teams to make them more adaptable, agile, and effective in times of calamities and crises, "with a clear unity of command." Evacuation centers, he added, are being upgraded to withstand the "new normal" of extreme weather and other natural and man-made disasters. New evacuation centers are also being built, of which 55 have already been completed, he noted.