Philippines gets $8-M climate change grant from Spain
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has received an $8-million grant from the Spanish government to pursue a program together with the United Nations to help it cope with climate change, a problem that has resulted in substantial economic losses for the country, especially its farm sector.
Ralph Recto, newly appointed director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), said the issue of climate change was one of the major threats to the country’s economic development.
He cited a study that says the climate-related problems like typhoons, floods and dry spells resulted in P115 billion worth of damages in the country’s infrastructure and farm sector from mid 1990s to 2007.
Recto also noted a study saying that temperature in the country is increasing every year by two-three degrees Celsius, something that has adverse impact on farm production.
“The time to act is now, and we should address this problem with foresight and political will,” Recto said in a speech Wednesday during the launch of the joint UN-RP program against climate change held at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
The program is entitled “Strengthening the Philippines’ Institutional Capacity to Adapt to climate change.”
The UN in a statement said the program would help the Philippines contribute to the attainment of some of the Millennium Development Goals. It said the program to address climate change will help achieve the goals of safeguarding the life support system of the poor, preventing malaria and other diseases that are partly contributed by constant rains, and ensure environmental sustainability.
The problem of climate change is seen to affect the poor more because many of them rely on the agriculture sector for livelihood.
“The (program) is timely given the worldwide effects now being felt from global warming and climate change,” NEDA and UN said in a press statement.
The grant will specifically fund studies that will help concerned national government agencies and local government units implement projects addressing climate change.
The program will run for three years, and will be covering various areas in the Metro Manila and the provinces.
The grant to the Philippines is part of the $700-million overall financial assistance from Spain, coursed through the UN, to help various countries attain Millennium Development Goals.
The Philippines is a signatory to the 2000 declaration that upheld the following Millennium Development Goals: halve extreme poverty and hunger; universal primary education; gender equality; reduce child mortality; improved women’s health; stop and reverse the spread of HIVAIDS and other diseases; environmental sustainability; and global partnerships for aid, trade and debt relief.
Michelle Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer
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