EVEN with the signing of the Climate Change law by President Gloria Arroyo last week, an environment lawyer said yesterday that such law was just creating another layer of bureaucracy.

“(Climate Change Law) doesn’t make a difference,” said environmental lawyer and advocate Gloria Estenzo-Ramos in an interview yesterday.

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Ramos, who is but one of many lawyers leading the Global Legal Action for Climate Change (GLACC), told Sun.Star Cebu that the signing of Republic Act No. 9729, otherwise known as the Climate Change Act, can not change the fact that strong political will from the country’s leaders were all it would take to implement environmental laws in the country.

“We have lots of laws that govern the protection of the environment, but strong implementation and political will from the politicians are needed to keep these laws working,” said Ramos.

Committee

The Climate Change Act, which was signed in Malacanang last Friday, aims to create a commission whose main job is to map out an action plan to mitigate the effects of climate change and to integrate climate change in the formulation of government policy.

Republic Act 9729 was signed about two weeks since the country was ravaged by typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma), destroying millions of property and taking hundreds of lives, particularly those living in Metro Manila and Northern Luzon.

However, Ramos said that mitigation plans being introduced in the Climate Change Act cannot be made by government agencies alone, and need full participation of the grassroots in order for these to work.

Strong laws

Ramos cited environmental laws such as RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001 and RA 8749 or the Clean Air Act of 1999 are very strong laws that govern over the impact of climate change in the country.

“These two important laws (RAs 9003 and 8749) show how the country is committed against the effects of climate change,” added Ramos.

She added that strong political will not just from national, but also local leaders will be needed to help get environmental laws to be strictly implemented.

After a year, Republic Act 9729 will map out a national climate action plan that includes assessment of the impact of climate change, specifically on the poor, women and children; identification of vulnerable localities; and identification of strategies to lower greenhouse gas emissions, chief contributor to warming temperatures, among others.