Climate finance pushed as La Niña starts

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

MANILA -- After several provinces in Northern Luzon felt the wrath of super typhoon Juan (international name: Megi), a Cebuano lawmaker called for a climate finance for disaster risk reduction and management.

Representative Gabriel Luis Quisumbing (sixth district, Cebu) filed a House resolution urging the committee on national defense to conduct an inquiry on the implementation of Republic Act 9729 or the act mainstreaming climate change into government policy formulations which also created the Climate Change Commission.

Quisumbing said the resolution focuses particularly on the need to have a predictable, united and continuous financing for climate change-related disaster risk reduction and management initiatives.

“We have entered the season of climate-induced disasters with the arrival of super typhoon Juan and the forecasted onset of La Niña. The Climate Change Commission needs to coordinate with appropriate agencies for purposes of identifying international as well as domestic sources of funds to finance disaster risk reduction and management initiatives particularly on the local level," he added. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)