SARRAT, Ilocos Norte, Dec. 11 (PIA) – Local planners and environment officers converged here for a forum on climate change mitigation and solid waste management on December 9-10.
Dubbed as the “Green Agenda: A Climate Change Sensitization Workshop,” the forum is a partnership advocacy program of the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
The campaign aims to enhance the awareness of the local government units (LGUs) on the causes of climate change in connection to the solid waste management.
Initially, 12 LGUS from the four provinces of Region 1 and two LGUs from the two provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) composed the maiden batch of the advocacy forum.
DENR’s Ilocos Region Assistant Regional Director Gwendolyn Mutya Bambalan said the workshop is very significant and timely considering that climate change has already affected everyone.
“Despite the country’s very insignificant contribution to carbon emission, our national government has committed to reduce its Carbon Emission by 70 percent in 2030. This is our contribution to climate change mitigation; thus, every Filipino has the major role to contribute to achieve our country’s commitment against the effect of climate change,” Bambalan explained.
Venus Junio, environmental education and information specialist of EMB in the Ilocos region, noted that the forum is also aiming to encourage all LGUs to be fully-compliant to R.A. 9003 or the Solid Waste Management law – the country’s main program to climate change mitigation.
“It’s now high time to move to restore our environment because when we heal the earth, we heal the future of the next generations. Through simple effort, we can help mitigate the effect of climate through proper household waste management,” she said.
Junio posed a challenge to the participants to come – up with tangible efforts against climate change guided by the words of newly- crowned Miss Earth 2015, who is a Filipina: “we will do it because we can do it.”
PIA Region 1 Director Jennilyne Role said the forum was composed of lectures and workshops to discuss climate change and the role of the LGUs in the campaign.
Role added the output of the workshop will serve as the benchmark for the massive campaign against climate change nationwide. (Freddie G. Lazaro/PIA1-Ilocos Norte)
