A faith-based group in the Philippines welcomed a resolution filed in Congress that calls for action to contribute to global climate change mitigation efforts.
Rodne Galicha, executive director of the group Living Laudato si’, said the move underscores the need for an “inclusive and transparent drafting” of the Philippines’ pledge to the Paris Agreement.
Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda earlier filed a resolution urging the Climate Change Commission to submit the country’s “Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).”
The document is supposed to be submitted to the international summit on climate change.
The legislator said the country has to “address the climate emergency” and “drive the country toward a sustainable pandemic recovery.”
“There is no place for fear or hesitancy in expediting our country’s NDC submission,” she said, adding that the pledge will drive all sectors to champion disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
Legarda also urged the government to engage in a “more inclusive and consultative process from a wide range of stakeholders” in drafting the NDC.
“The best way forward is to heed science and take decisive actions for our collective recovery that also secures a cleaner, safer, and more resilient world for all,” she added.
Early this month, the group Living Laudato si’ appealed to the government to seriously advance its commitments to battle climate change with an “inclusive, transparent, and meaningful plan.”
Galicha urged the government to include civil society and other sectors in the NDC Technical Working Group must “not only in drafting but also in the implementation and monitoring processes.”
In a statement, Lot Felizco, country director of Oxfam in the Philippines, said her office looks forward “to being part of genuine consultations – not merely information sessions.”
She said the involvement of civil society and a wider group of non-government stakeholders in the preparation process “provides additional accountability pathways and enhances implementation.”
NDCs are supposed to articulate clear and substantive commitments of governments to global efforts to combat the climate crisis, including moves to reduce national carbon emissions.
