Latest news with #ClimateAccountabilityBill
GMA Network
23-07-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Amid Habagat floods, group calls for probe into flood control projects
Amid severe flooding brought on by the triple threat of Crising, the Habagat and low presure areas, Aksyon Klima Pilipinas (AKP) has called on a "legislative inquiry into the status and implementation of flood control projects throughout the country, and their effectiveness in mitigating flooding in their respective areas." "These inquiries must be conducted in good faith and require responses from all implementing actors, such as the Department of Public Works and Highways and concerned local government units, with the ultimate goal of holding them accountable for any wrongdoings and identifying how to resolve the flooding problem," AKP added. In a statement, the country's largest network of civil service organizations for climate action listed its four-point appeal, which also includes "a multi sectoral review of existing flood management master plans" to be led by the National and LocaL Disaster Risk Reduction Management Councils and a "stronger implementation of national and local laws and policies for the protection, conservation, and restoration" of natural habitats including forests, mangroves and "avoiding mining and quarrying activities in areas that can lead to worse flooding." AKP also demanded the enactment of the Climate Accountability Bill (CLIMA), "which would establish a framework to enhance corporate accountability for potential human rights violations caused by pollutive actions." While acknowledging that the climate crisis is worsening, with temperatures breaching the 1.5C limit last year, AKP said full blame cannot be put on climate change. "As a country that is visited by monsoons and experiences an average of 20 storms every year, there is no reason that communities should repeatedly see their streets submerged in floods time and again. There is no reason for families to keep worrying about their safety from such disasters that prevent them from meeting their socioeconomic needs," it said. More than 1.4M people have been affected by Crising, rains brought by Habitat, and a low pressure area, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Wednesday. The death toll due to Crising, the Southwest Monsoon or Habagat, and the LPA increased from six to seven. According to the MMDA Tuesday, more than 500 flood incidents were reported in Metro Manila alone. Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation has called out the MRT Line 7 project contractors and the Skyway management over issues that allegedly contribute to the flooding in their concerned areas. — LA, GMA integrated News
GMA Network
11-07-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Philippines urges countries to help sustain Loss and Damage Fund
Rescuers assist residents on a boat along a flooded road following heavy rains brought by the Habagat enhanced by Super Typhoon Carina, in Marikina City on July 24, 2024. REUTERS/ Lisa Marie David The Philippines has asked countries to help sustain the fund aimed at providing assistance to nations that are most at risk from the effects of climate change, warning that the price of inaction is "far too high." At the sixth meeting of the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, on Wednesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said through Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla that the initial allocation of $250 million for 2025–2026 was a 'crucial step forward,' but the fund must also be 'fair, future-ready, and responsive to those who need help.' ''What's at stake here demands urgency and action. Let us not lose sight of what led us to fight for the establishment of the fund. When it comes to addressing loss and damage, business as usual is not an option. Every delay means more families without shelter, more livelihoods disrupted, and, worse, more lives lost. The cost of inaction is far too high,'' Marcos said. The President said the fund must be "swift, accessible, and human-centered, attuned to the needs of vulnerable countries and communities." ''We also call on the international community to stand with us, to help sustain this fund, and to fulfill its promises. The collective will of nations must rise higher than the seas, burn brighter than a warming world, and move faster than the storms that endanger us,'' he said. The Philippines hosts the board of the FRLD, which was operationalized at the COP 28 UN Climate Change Conference in December 2023. As of June 27, wealthy nations had forwarded $348 million out of the total pledges worth around $789 million, according to the World Bank, the fund's interim trustee. Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States are among the nations that have contributed to the fund. For environmental group Greenpeace, the so-called "climate polluters" should bear the responsibility for loss and damage. In a statement, Greenpeace Philippines said Marcos should demand payment for climate loss and damage from fossil fuel companies and rich nations, call for an end to oil and gas expansion and for a fossil fuel phaseout, expedite the passage of the Climate Accountability Bill, and begin the process of litigating the world's biggest oil and gas companies for climate impact damages to the Filipino people. 'Those most responsible for the climate and environmental emergency must be held accountable by paying their fair share. And the Philippines can lead the way in making this happen,'' said Greenpeace Philippines campaigner Jefferson Chua. The Philippines is among the least emitters of greenhouse gases that cause global warming, yet it is directly hit by the effects of climate change, such as droughts and strong tropical cyclones. As part of efforts to curtail the effects of climate change, the Philippines joined nearly 200 countries in a landmark deal in Paris in December 2015 to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit the rise in global temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius. ''Year after year we endure the harshest blows of the climate crisis, from typhoons that destroyed towns to rising seas that threatened our coastal communities,'' Marcos said. ''Other vulnerable nations share this struggle, this burden, and this collective call for climate justice. It is for them and with them that this fund was created.'' —GMA Integrated News
