Program enhances RP capacity to adapt to climate change

MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations and the Philippine government on Wednesday signed a three-year joint program to strengthen the country’s capacity to adapt to climate change. Besides intending to cut climate risks through key national and selected local development plans and processes, the program also plans to enhance national and local capacity to develop plans to address climate change risks, and formulate coping mechanisms through pilot demonstration adaptation projects. The program allotted an $8-million grant to the Philippines from the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund. The fund came from the Spanish government. “It will contribute to the Philippines’ achievement of its MDG targets by enhancing socioeconomic development through reduced vulnerabilities of key affected sectors and the target stakeholders in 43 or more provinces," the UN said in a statement. The MDG Fund is a global $700-million funding facility contributed by Spain to the UN in December 2006. The Philippines is a signatory to the 2000 Millennium Declaration that rolled out eight goals to be achieved by 2015. these are: halving extreme poverty and hunger; universal primary education; gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve women’s health; stop and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases; environmental sustainability and global partnerships for aid, trade and debt relief. UN resident coordinator Nileema Noble signed the joint programme document for the UN and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto for the Philippines while Alvaro Trejo, charge’ d’ affaires of the Spanish embassy witnessed. Besides the National Economic and Development Authority, other implementing agencies were Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and the Province of Albay. - Cheryl M. Arcibal, GMANews.TV