Part 1: Governance of Climate Change in the Philippines

(for a clearer copy, e-mail the author at efloranoy@yahoo.com)

by Ebinezer R. Florano
with inputs from the MoI Cluster of the CCC-NCCAP Technical Workshop*

The Philippine Climate Change Commission (CCC) conducted a "Technical Workshop on the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP)" on 26-28 January 2011 at Stotsenberg Hotel in Clark Field, Pampanga. The objective, among others, was to help the CCC create concrete action plans for the implementation of the NCCAP from 2011-2028. The 500+ participants from national government agencies, local government units, academe, political parties, and civil society organizations were grouped into several clusters, one of which is the Means of Implementation (MoI) cluster. The MoI cluster was able to draw up some concrete plans for the NCCAP and the CCC. In addition, they drew the relationships of the CCC to various national government agencies and local government units (LGUs), taking into consideration the legal mandates of these agencies. The diagram above is the product of the long-discussion on what should be the working relationships of various government agencies in the area of climate change governance in the Philippines.

In a summary, the President of the Philippines provides the strategic direction on climate change governance. He/she is assisted by the CCC which is the sole policy-making body of the government tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and action plans of the government relating to climate change pursuant to the provisions of the Climate Change Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9729). The CC policies shall be integrated into the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) and all other plans that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is tasked to do as the central development planning agency of the country. The President is Chairman of both the CCC and the NEDA, hence, coordination should not pose as a problem between the two agencies.

For 2011-2016, NEDA has chosen "Green Growth" as its theme for the MTPDP of the Aquino Administration. Planning for CC and green growth, theoretically, should use both the bottom-up and top-down approach. The President, at the beginning of his/her term, shall instruct, through NEDA, all government agencies, including LGUs and government-owned and/or controlled corporations (GOCCs), to formulate their development plans according to his/her vision and campaign promises.

Now, that climate change is mandated to be mainstreamed into all development plans by the Climate Change Act of 2009, the NEDA guidelines should reflect this. Using the NEDA guidelines, all LGUs, which are at the frontline of the CC campaigns, through their local development councils (LDCs), shall formulate their Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) which shall serve as inputs, together with plans for local disaster risk reduction (DRR), to the local development plans (LDPs), annual investment plans, etc. Municipalities and cities can be assisted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), various local government leagues, and their provincial governments in the formulation of the LCCAP and LDPs.

All of these local development plans shall be integrated and be used for the formulation of regional development plans (RDPs). In the formulation of the RDPs, multi-stakeholder participation - from regional offices of national government agencies, provincial chief executives, and civil society organizations - is employed. The regional offices of NEDA act as secretariat to the Regional Development Councils which are tasked to formulate their RDPs.

From the regional level, the NEDA regional offices shall transmit the RDPs to their national office - the NEDA Secretariat. The RDPs shall serve as inputs in the formulation of the MTPDP. The latter shall be approved by the NEDA Board whose chairman is the President of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, all LCCAPs shall also be transmitted directly to the CCC which shall integrate all of them and see to it that they are mainstreamed into the MTPDP.

The diagram above can also be used not only in mainstreaming of CC matters in the development plans but also in the implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of CC programs, plans, and projects.

Unfortunately, during the discussions in the MoI cluster, it was reported that the 2011-2016 MTPDP is being formulated without the benefit of the top-down and bottom-up approaches described above. Hence, there is lingering doubt that the MTPDP would really reflect the LDPs and RDPs of LGUs, and even the sectoral plans of national government agencies, to climate-proof the country's development.

*Note: The diagram and discussions benefitted from the contributions from the following government agencies, LGU umbrella organization, environmental NGOs, political parties, and an academic institutions, namely: Climate Change Commission, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Budget and Management, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Transportation and Communication (government agencies); Union of Local Government Authorities, Rice Watch and Action Network, Conservation International, Philippine Clean Air Initiative (NGOs); University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance (academe); and Partido Kalikasan, and 1-UTAK (political parties).

*Disclaimer: The author is solely responsible for this write-up. All agencies and organizations mentioned above should not be held liable.

(Next topic: Other suggestions from the MoI cluster presented to the CCC during the technical workshop).

GOOD NEWS: Pres. Aquino suspends approval of large-scale mining applications

By Delon Porcalla
The Philippine Star)
Updated February 05, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang announced yesterday that President Aquino has ordered Secretary Ramon Paje of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to suspend all large-scale mining applications while the government reviews pending and inactive mining claims this year.

“The instruction right now from his office is not to accept new applications of mining claims since January this year,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said, adding that there is now a ban on processing of mining claims.

“We believe that we need to enforce properly the mining regulations and mining laws. So that is what the DENR is doing, and will continue to do, to strictly monitor and strictly implement the mining regulations,” he said.

Lacierda noted that upon assumption to office, Paje promised that “he will clean the process of the mining claims.”

“There were 2,800 mining claims when he assumed office. Right now he has cancelled already 500 mining claims. He is also in the process of reviewing 500 more,” Lacierda added.

Lacierda said this has been one of the programs of Aquino even when he was still a senator.

The DENR has terminated more than 500 mining permits and applications that have remained inactive and incomplete in terms of requirements.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau records show that there are 2,180 mining applications presently pending in various regional offices.

Paje said the department’s regional offices have been given two deadlines – on Feb. 20 and December this year – to clear all pending and inactive mining applications for this year.

He said the clearing of “aging” mining applications is in line with the department’s anti-corruption program.

“We have to decide... what to do with all of these mining applications pending in our regional offices. Otherwise, the public will continue to perceive us as inefficient and corrupt,” Paje said.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=654543&publicationSubCategoryId=63

COP16 approves the Cancun Accords: Documents include creation of a Green Fund

Following negotiations that ran through early Saturday morning, delegates at the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Cancun adopted by consensus the Cancun Accords, a series of documents that will provide the basis for efforts to confront climate change after the Kyoto Protocol expires.

The accords include a $30 billion-package for 2012 to aid nations taking immediate actions to halt effects of global warming, as well as financing for long-term projects to protect the environment through a Green Fund, which will provide $100 million annually for adaptation and mitigation measures.

Delegates also approved the creation of the forestry program Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) to facilitate the flow of resources to communities dedicated to forest conservation.

The President Felipe Calderón congratulated representatives of nearly 200 countries and the Conference authorities, including Ambassador Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, who headed COP16/CMP6 activities throughout the two-week conference.

"You have broken that inertia (toward negativity) and have traded a feeling of collective failure for one that recovers hope in multilateralism,” President Calderón Hinojosa said after the Cancun Accords were approved.

Source: http://www.cc2010.mx/en/press-center/news/news-interviews_2010121153618.htm

Note: Mute the video above to listen to the video below.

GOOD NEWS: Aquino issues EO 23 on indefinite log ban

By Delon Porcalla
(The Philippine Star)
Updated February 04, 2011 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino yesterday declared an indefinite log ban all over the country.

Aquino issued Executive Order 23 implementing the indefinite log ban and creating an Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force to be headed by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje.

Aquino authorized the release of P10 million as seed fund for the task force. The initial budget would be sourced from the Department of Budget and Management with additional funds to be cleared by the President.

Aquino tasked Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Philippine National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Ricardo David to help the task force in implementing the indefinite log ban all over the country.

“The task force is mandated to take the lead in the anti-illegal logging campaign and ensure the implementation of this executive order under the supervision of the DENR. It shall also assist the DENR in the enforcement of other environmental laws,” the order read in part.

The moratorium shall remain in effect “unless lifted after the effectivity of this EO.”

EO 23, entitled “Declaring a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in the national and residual forests and creating the Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force,” was issued in light of widespread flooding and landslides in Mindanao, Eastern Visayas and Bicol where scores of people have died and were displaced.

The President earlier said illegal logging continues to be the main culprit of landslides in these areas that cause significant loss of life and damage to property.

Under the EO, the DENR would be restricted from issuing logging permits and contracts “in all natural and residual forests,” including renewing tree cutting permits in all forests all over the country.

The only exceptions to the log ban are those that involve the “clearing of road right of way, site preparation for tree plantations… provided that all logs derived from these permits shall be turned over to DENR for proper disposal.”

Cutting of trees that have been part of cultural activities of indigenous peoples “may be allowed only subject to strict compliance with existing guidelines of the DENR,” the EO stated.

The EO also tasked the DENR to prohibit the operation of sawmills, veneer plants and other wood processing plants “that are unable to present proof of sustainable sources of legally cut logs for a period of at least five years within one month from effectivity of this EO.”

The President also tasked other agencies to support the task force and assist in the discharge of its functions.

This support, as provided in the four-page executive order, is “not limited to the provision of administrative or technical assistance, logistical support and detail of personnel.”

The environmental activist group Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment led by Clemente Bautista Jr. said Aquino should immediately implement a total log ban.

“The people have suffered too much because of unabated logging and deforestation in the country,” Bautista said. – With Rhodina Villanueva

Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=654254&publicationSubCategoryId=63

SAD NEWS: Scientists find ‘creeping effects’ of climate change in Philippine coastal areas

By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:16:00 02/04/2011

MANILA, Philippines—If the world worries about monster storms, floods and landslides, what the eyes don't usually see should concern them as much.
Top marine scientists from around the country have found indications of the "creeping effects" of climate change on marine life—a study aimed at shifting focus from changes in weather phenomena on land to those happening underwater.

Tagged ICE CREAM (Integrated Coastal Enhancement: Climate Research, Enhancement and Adaptive Management), the government-funded project has found rising water temperatures, coral bleaching and coastal erosion in several of its 28 project sites dotting the Philippine coastline.

The team shared its initial findings to the INQUIRER as it marked the start of its third year. The P98-million project, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International involves more than a dozen marine science experts from across the country and separate staff at project sites.

“Something that is not visible is much more difficult to understand. It (the sea) is much more prone to being dismissed as being “no, there's still a lot of fish,” said Wilfredo Campos, a marine biologist from the University of the Philippines-Visayas.
“You don't really see what's happening. You see that there are mudslides, you see what's happening in the forest, but at sea, you really don't know what's happening. You look at the sea and feel that it (resources) is still finite, when actually, it's not,” Campos told the INQUIRER on Thursday.

Much debate still surrounds climate change, its causes and effects, but Porfirio Aliño, marine biologist from the UP Marine Science Institute, would rather look the at the bottomline.

“The climate is always changing, how you see it in relation to whether it's going to be more frequent or accelerated. But the bottomline is how do we respond to it, given that if we don't do anything, it will become accelerated,” he said.

“One question is that, climate has changed in evolutionary time. But the point is, during evolutionary time, there were no people yet. Now, climate change has a big effect on people,” he said.

Based on initial findings, the DoST climate change project found a 3-percent rise in shallow water temperature off Lian, Batangas in April to May of last year—an increase not observed even in intense summers.

“By May, it spiked to 31 degrees Celsius, while the normal range is 27 degrees to 29 degrees. For water, that's very high,” said Maricar Samson, an environmental scientist from the De La Salle University.

Such warm waters caused coral bleaching, which endangered an ecosystem that could buffer vulnerable coastlines from storm surges, the team said.

“If you take care of the reef, it will be able to compensate with sea level rise. But if of course it is in poor condition, it will not be able to buffer, for example, the storm surge. The increase in sea level will reach the shore,” he said.
Such rate of temperature rise, if observed every 5 years, would leave only 1 percent of the current coral reef population, Samson said. The same rise, if seen every 10 years, would leave only 11 percent.

In Botolan, Zambales, scientists found out that the coastline has receded significantly from 1977 to 2003.

“This has a big impact on the coast . Now, we're trying to do some projections in some parts of the Philippines on what will happen on their coastal stability,” Samson said.

Another study under ICE CREAM found a decrease in the productivity of fish species in coastal areas by roughly 20 percent, a “very fast rate” observed within two decades said Aliño.

“If we don't take care of our coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass and other habitats, obviously, the decline will be fast, we cannot cope with climate change. The other thing is, we are not as conscious about it unfortunately,” he said, adding that waters surrounding the archipelago were almost seven times bigger than its land area.
The team hopes to use data to influence policy-makers and stakeholders at the local and national levels: local government units could draft ordinances for better coastal protection while communities could practice more responsible use of marine resources.

“In the absence of scientists on the ground, the program hopes to give people tools where people can formulate their own [climate-change adaptation programs],” Samson said.

“These are site-specific. It's not possible that the whole Philippines will sink ... There will be different scenarios for [different parts of the] Philippines,” she added.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110204-318321/Scientists-find-creeping-effects-of-climate-change-in-Philippine-coastal-areas

Editorial: Crazy weather

(collage by the blogger)

In the past 12 and a half months great areas of the world have experienced extreme, crazy and topsy-turvy weather. Both the western and eastern worlds suffered a midsummer breakdown:

The hottest summer (more than 100 degrees F for the first time) in Russia, sparking wildfires and blanketing Moscow with toxic smog;

The heaviest monsoon rains in Pakistan, causing rivers to rampage over the countryside, flooding thousands of villages, killing 1,500 people and leaving 14 million homeless;

The worst floods in China in decades which, together with landslides, killed at least 1,100 people and left more than 600 missing;

The wettest midsummer (some call it "Nashville's `Katrina'") in Iowa in 127 years of record-keeping, floodwaters forcing hundreds from their homes;

The calving off from the great Petermann Glacier in Greenland's northwest of a 100-square-mile chunk of ice.

Winter in the West (the cold season in the East) has been especially harsh. A "Snowmaggeddon" has blanketed huge areas of the United States. From extreme, brain-cooking heat during the summer, the weather has turned to the other extreme, with record snowfalls being experienced in areas that usually saw mild, gentle winters in the past.

And the end is not yet in sight. In the first half of January devastating floods have hit Australia; a tsunami-like wall of water ripped through Queensland's Lockyer Valley, tossing cars like toys, lifting houses from their foundations, and displacing hundreds of thousands of people (very reminiscent of "Ondoy"!). Thousands of kilometers away, in Brazil, more than 500 people have died in mudslides near Rio de Janeiro. In the Philippines, heavy rains have lashed the Bicol region, the Visayas and Mindanao, killing scores of people, displacing hundreds of thousands and causing billions of pesos in damage to crops, public works and private property.

Why the freakish, crazy weather? Scientists are hotly debating the issue, but the great majority say that it is caused by global warming. The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has long predicted that rising global temperatures would produce more frequent and intense heat waves and more intense rainfalls. The IPCC's most recent assessment report says, "It is now more likely than not that human activity has contributed to observed increases in heat waves, intense precipitation events and the intensity of tropical cyclones."

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has reported that 2010 was "the hottest meteorological year." For über-meteorologist Dr. Jess Masters of Weather Underground, 2010 was the year of living dangerously (insofar as the weather was concerned): "The stunning extremes we witnessed give me concern that our climate is showing early signs of instability."

Masters continued: "…I suspect that crazy weather years like 2010 will become the norm a decade from now, as the climate continues to adjust to the steady build-up of heat-trapping gasses we are pumping into the air… Forty years from now, the crazy weather of 2010 will seem pretty tame… This year's wild ride was just the beginning."

It was extremely fatal, destructive and frightening in many parts of the world, and yet, for a weather expert "it was just the beginning." Wild, wild 2010 should make all nations take more aggressive steps to try to control global warming. And everyone should contribute to the effort, from the poorest country to the richest, which are among those who are producing the greatest volume of greenhouse gases.

Governments and the private sector will have to study and adopt strong measures to control emissions; promote the use of human-friendly sources of power such as solar, wind, geothermal and ocean wave; curb deforestation; make rational land use plans; and resettle the poor who are always vulnerable on flood plains. Bold, aggressive measures have to be adopted, and the richer nations, which cause the most pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, have the moral obligation to provide funds to the poorer ones to help them cope with the problem.

We are now really seeing and experiencing "the dark side of climate change." Unless we begin solving the problem now, we will be condemning our children, and our children's children to a very harsh future, and probably, even to an early death.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer at http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20110118-315066/Crazy-weather

2010: Global climate hotter, wettest

The new figures confirm that 2010 will go down as one of the more exceptional years in the annals of climatology. Last year saw prodigious snowstorms that broke seasonal records in the United States and Europe; a record-shattering summer heat wave that scorched Russia; strong floods that drove people from their homes in places like Pakistan, Australia, California and Tennessee; a severe die-off of coral reefs; and a continuation in the global trend of a warming climate.

Two US agencies—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—reported on Wednesday that the global average surface temperature for 2010 had tied the record set in 2005.

The analyses differ slightly: In the NOAA version, the 2010 temperature was 0.62 degree Celsius (1.12 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average for the 20th century, which is 14 degrees Celsius (57 Fahrenheit).

Climate experts have become increasingly concerned about rising global temperatures over the last century. A large majority of climatologists attribute global warming to industrial processes and gasoline-burning engines that release heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

“The warmth this year reinforces the notion that we are seeing climate change,” said David Easterling, chief of scientific services at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.

Warmest years

It was the 34th year running that global temperatures have been above the 20th century average; the last below-average year was 1976. More remarkable, 9 of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since the beginning of 2001.

Easterling said the temperature readings collected at land stations and from ships and buoys at sea “unequivocally” disproved claims that climate warming ended in 2005.

“If the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long,” said James Hansen, the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

Bob Ward at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science said the US data showed “that the Earth is warming and its temperature is at record levels.”

Last year’s data “also showed that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had reached 390 parts per million, its highest level for at least 800,000 years and almost 40 percent higher than the level before the start of the Industrial Revolution when humans started to burn fossil fuels in increasing amounts,” Ward said.

“The evidence is overwhelming that human activities are driving climate change,” he added.

Wettest year

Last year was also the wettest on record, according to NOAA which cited a report of the Global Historical Climatology Network that made the calculation based on global average precipitation.

A warmer atmosphere holds more water, which in general can result in more floods, Easterling explained.

The NOAA analysis tracked weather changes that contributed to massive floods in Pakistan and a heat wave in Russia, saying an “unusually strong jet stream” from June to August was to blame.

“The jet stream remained locked in place for weeks, bringing an unprecedented two-month heat wave to Russia and contributing to devastating floods in Pakistan at the end of July,” the agency said.

As various crops were scorched and countless farms were inundated, global food prices rose to record levels and threatened to lead to food riots like those seen in 2008.

When it came to hurricanes and storms, the Pacific Ocean saw the fewest number of hurricanes and named storms, three and seven respectively, since the 1960s.

Shrinking sea ice

But the Atlantic Ocean told a different story, with 12 hurricanes and 19 named storms, marking the second highest number of hurricanes on record and third highest for storms.

NASA analysts said the shrinking sea ice in the Arctic may have made winters in Europe and Canada warmer than usual.

“Winter weather patterns are notoriously chaotic, and the analysis finds seven of the last 10 European winters warmer than the average from 1951 to 1980,” NASA said in a statement.

“The unusual cold in the past two winters has caused scientists to begin to speculate about a potential connection to sea ice changes,” it said.

“Arctic sea ice acts like a blanket, insulating the atmosphere from the ocean’s heat. Take away that blanket, and the heat can escape into the atmosphere, increasing local surface temperatures. Regions in northeast Canada were several degrees warmer than normal in December.”

The United States was wetter and hotter last year than the average values for the 20th century, but overall the year was not as exceptional in this country as for the world as a whole.

Still, some remarkable events occurred at a regional scale, including snowstorms last February that shattered seasonal records in cities like Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia. In the summer, a heat wave broke records in the South and along much of the East Coast.

Future weather

The NASA and NOAA reports did not predict weather in the future.

But the UN climate science panel said the weather was likely to be more extreme this century because of a buildup of gases released by burning fossil fuels and forest destruction.

Jay Gulledge, the senior scientist at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said farmers and others may be able to adjust to expected warmer temperatures, but preparing for extreme weather would be harder.

“We’ve got really immense potential right now to have even bigger impacts from the direct effects of extreme events,” he said.

As the weather warmed, the world did not do enough to prevent future climate change, scientists said.

At the UN climate talks in Cancun late last year, nearly 200 countries agreed to set a target of limiting a rise in average world temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) over preindustrial times.

But promised emissions curbs by big polluters such as China and the United States are not enough to achieve that goal and tougher actions are needed, climate scientists said.

Paradox

Frigid winters in parts of Europe and the United States in 2010 may be a paradoxical side effect of climate change, some scientists said.

Rising temperatures mean a shrinking of sea ice in the Arctic, heating the region and pushing cold air southward during the winter, according to a study last month in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Warming of the air over the Barents and Kara seas, for instance, seems to bring cold winter winds to Europe.

“This is not what one would expect,” said Vladimir Petoukhov, lead author of the study and climate scientist at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “Whoever thinks that the shrinking of some far away sea-ice won’t bother him could be wrong.”

The release of the NOAA report itself was delayed one day by an unusually hard snowstorm in North Carolina.

“These anomalies could triple the probability of cold winter extremes in Europe and northern Asia,” Petoukhov said. “Recent severe winters like last year’s ... do not conflict with the global warming picture, but rather supplement it.” Reports from The New York Times, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer Online at http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110114-314309/Global-climate-hotter-wettest