Thursday, August 2, 2012

Climate Change Act. Yes we actually have one!

Integrated Bar of the Philippines SOCGEN Chapter President Atty. Elvie Albano sent me a message a few days ago that the topic for the Lawyer's Forum this Saturday is the climate change act.

Truth be told it was the first time that I heard that we actually have one. 

Republic Act 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009 became a law last October 23, 2009.

The law is composed of twenty six sections.

It is in compliance with a number of our international obligations, recognizes the inter relation between climate change and disaster risk reduction, realizes our vulnerability to the dangers of climate change being an archipelago and acknowledges that an effective response to climate change must be a concerted effort.

It also defined concepts like gender mainstreaming in the approach to mitigate climate change and a number of other concepts like climate change of course.

The law also mandates that a Climate Change Commissions be created. The powers and functions of the commission were also defined.  The composition of and qualifications for the commissioners were mentioned.   

The best aspect of the law that I saw was the mandate to create a national framework and strategy for climate change and the fact that Local Government Units are also mandated to create a Local Climate Change Action Plan.

The next question that I asked myself was, "Do we have a National Framework Strategy on Climate Change?"

The answer is yes and here is the link.

Now that most areas in the country are feeling the brunt of abrupt changes on weather patterns and flash floods are becoming a common occurrence maybe it is time for us to review the entirety of the law and here is the link.





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