SWELTERING hot days. Increased number of typhoons. Unprecedented instances of storm surges. These have become the norm nowadays, and people are quick to blame these on one thing: climate change.
The global public’s awareness on the urgency of addressing climate change has increased over the years.
In the Southeast Asian region alone, overall temperature has been increasing at a rate of 0.14 degrees Celsius to 0.20°C per decade since the 1960s, as reported in the Second Edition of the Asean Biodiversity Outlook (ABO 2) of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).
The publication noted that this continued warming would affect the vegetation and habitat of the numerous wildlife species in the region. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) acknowledged that warming beyond the highest recorded temperature for the past 1.8 million years would cause an abnormal level of stress to the various species and their habitats.
“The ACB is providing a venue and opportunity for the Asean member-states [AMS] to work together in the spirit of one Asean Community. Today, the world, particularly the Asean region, is confronted by the twin threats of climate change and biodiversity loss,” said Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim, executive director of ACB, at the “Asia Multi-Actor Dialogue Seminar to Build Social-ecological Resilience through the Incorporation of Ecosystem-based Solutions in Nationally Determined Contributions” in Manila, Philippines.
“I’m sure you will all agree with me when I say that climate change and biodiversity loss are inseparable concerns. Climate change is a major driver of biodiversity loss, and healthy biodiversity is a major solution to climate change,” Lim added.
The dialogue-seminar, which was held in the middle of this month, was organized by ACB and SwedBio, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Climate Change Commission of the Philippines.
“Our workshop this week is the first of our efforts at mainstreaming biodiversity to make sure that climate change and biodiversity loss are not treated separately,” Lim said.
She said it is “not a question of turf as to who will be responsible or who will be in charge.”
She explained: “Our concern is to mainstream biodiversity to ensure that all sectors, from political leaders to scientists; from the media to the general public; from civic leaders to students will be working together to combat the twin threats to humankind.”
Lim said globally, everyone agrees that climate-change adaptation is of utmost importance and urgency.
“Ironically, funding or support is very much wanting. It’s always not enough. But, with working together, we will be able to maximize our efforts in addressing what is most important to us,” she added. Elenida Basug, OIC director of the Climate Change Service of the DENR, said, “Today we have come at a point where we acknowledge that the force of climate change in the region and in our respective countries is here; that climate change is no longer a floating theoretical concept, but rather a phenomenon that affects our environment and our daily lives.”
Tristan Tyrrell, program officer on Climate Change and Ecosystems at SwedBio and one of the facilitators of the event, introduced various climate change-related concepts—such as Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Ecosystem-based Mitigation and how these affect or can be incorporated in the upcoming projects of the participants’ organizations and their individual countries’ national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
Participants from AMS and delegates from Pakistan and Bangladesh joined the representatives from indigenous peoples and local communities and the Asean Secretariat in the sharing of experiences in developing the role for ecosystem-based approaches in climate-related work at national level; identify synergies among potential ecosystem-based approaches for delivering benefits related to multiple objectives; empower those concerned with the well-being of nature to engage with those responsible for achieving nationally determined contributions ; and establish the support needed by the region to advance ecosystem-based approaches to adapt to and mitigate climate change and to reduce the risk of disaster.
Discussions within separate groups and in plenary were held. Projects in place to either adapt to or mitigate the effects of climate change undertaken by the bodies represented by the participants included technological solutions such as solar-powered irrigation systems; fish conservation; diversified planting; and community-based enterprises. On the other hand, activities that the participants wanted their organizations to consider included rainwater harvesting; private-sector engagement; and urban forestry.
Part of the four-day event was a visit to the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area, the first critical habitat to be declared in the Philippines, and a Ramsar Site. Sen. Cynthia Villar, the current chairman of the Senate Committees on Environment and Natural Resources, welcomed the participants.
Short-term to long-term goals of each represented country were shared before the seminar ended as a means to finalize the participants’ commitments.
Asean pledge in Paris
In December 2015, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) met in Paris, France, and agreed on actions to fight climate change.
“The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” the UNFCCC said.
All parties to the UNFCCC have commitments to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to the impacts of climate change; these are what are known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
As of March 2017, all 10 AMS have ratified the Paris Agreement. Each member state’s NDCs outline post-2020 climate actions that they intend to undertake under the agreement.
ABO 2 asserts that the Asean region is aware of its vulnerability to the effects brought about by climate change. However, it has to be emphasized that biodiversity conservation can effectively diminish the impacts of climate change.
Increased collaboration, sharing of expertise, and public awareness of the interrelationship between climate change and biodiversity are crucial to addressing these twin issues.