Climate body under disaster department opposed

MANILA, Philippines — Placing the Climate Change Commission (CCC) under the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience will restrict the exercise of its mandate as the policymaking body on climate adaptation and mitigation, according to a ranking official.

“You cannot limit the work of the CCC only within the aspect of disasters or disaster resilience. That is only a small aspect in the climate change adaptation and mitigation,” CCC Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman told reporters.

De Guzman said the proposal would be “detrimental” to the country, since other aspects of adaptation and mitigation would not be adequately addressed in the absence of a lead agency.

“Disaster risk reduction is just the first step to adaptation. With adaptation, we think of future risks: what will happen in the future in terms of climate change scenarios and how we will plan now to address those future risks,” he said.

De Guzman said the 10-year-old CCC also leads the implementation of the National Climate Change Action Plan.

This roadmap focuses on priority areas on climate action such as food security, water sufficiency, sustainable energy and human security, among others.

“Our convergence with the proposed department … is only with human security, contingency planning and humanitarian response following the disaster,” he said.