THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) will push for the integration of biodiversity conservation in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP).
The crafting of the NAP is one of the commitments under the historic climate agreement forged in Paris, France, last month during the 21st session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Climate Change Commission, the country’s climate-change body, will take the lead in crafting the NAP.
BMB Director Theresa Mundita Lim said that this year, the DENR-BMB will align all programs and activities related to biodiversity conservation to the recently forged Paris climate agreement, which primarily aims to reduce global carbon emissions to limit temperature increase below 2⁰C between 2020 up to 2030.
Lim said the DENR-BMB will participate in the formulation of the NAP to make sure that biodiversity and ecosystem services are integrated in the plan.
“What we are going to do this year is we will link our various programs and activities to the Paris agreement, but focusing more on ecosystem-based adaptation and mitigation,” Lim added.
The Philippines vowed to reduce its carbon emission by 70 percent based on a business-as-usual scenario between 2020 and 2030 under its intended nationally determined contribution, but its commitment is largely dependent on the support it will get to finance various climate- change projects.
“We will make sure that part of the National Adaptation Plan is our main asset, biodiversity and ecosystem services,” she said.
The role of Protected Areas (PAs) in adaptation and mitigation, as well as coral recovery and rehabilitation, which was given funding of P500 million for the first time this year, will all be aligned to the Paris agreement, she said.
Lim added that the country’s Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which has been aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approved during the United Nations General Assembly in September last year, will also be fine-tuned to be consistent with the NAP and the Paris agreement.
The Paris agreement is more on climate, while the SDGs is more encompassing, as it includes various goals to ensure sustainable development, such as poverty, hunger, health and well-being, education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions, and partnerships for goals.
“We will make sure that consciously, all our programs and activities will be integrated to be able to contribute to the Paris agreement,” she said.
On coastal rehabilitation, more than providing livelihood support, it should be designed for resiliency to the impacts of climate change, Lim said.
“There are existing studies where we can take off from in implementing coral recovery and rehabilitation. We will coordinate with the academe to take stock of the data that is already available. We will also seek the help of the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, to map out coral reefs across the country,” she said.