Roxas City to have climate change project
ROXAS CITY – Roxas City is one of the country’s local government units that will be piloted for climate change projects.
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza in an online news disclosed that Roxas City is among the selected LGUs to become partners of said agency and the Republic of Germany through Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).
Atienza said that the Philippines and GTZ is embarking on two major projects to help address climate change, specifically, the “Adaptation to Climate Change and Conservation of the Biodiversity in the Philippines (ACCCBIO)” and the “Support Program for Solid Waste Management for LGUs (SWM4LGUs) Phase II.”
Other areas in Region VI that will also be piloted for said project include the cities of Iloilo and Sipalay and the town of Buenavista in Guimaras province.
Atienza explained that both projects, which agreements were already signed, are in line with the program of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to address the problem of global warming and climate change.
He said that the grant from the GTZ will greatly help the DENR in implementing government projects aimed to mitigate the impact of climate change especially that the country has been identified by scientists as among the countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change.
The “Adaptation to Climate Change and Conservation of the Biodiversity in the Philippines (ACCCBIO)” project is aimed at developing and implementing relevant adaptation strategies to compensate the effects of climate change and loss of biodiversity in selected areas in the country, he stressed.
He added that said project will run for three years, with funding support of 2.43 million EUR.
On the other hand, the “Support Program for Solid Waste Management for LGUs (SWM4LGUs) Phase II”, is a 3-year, second phase of a project intended to assist selected local government units in the effective and efficient implementation of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (Republic Act No. 9003) with funding support of two million euros (2,000,000 EUR) from GTZ.
Based on the agreement signed earlier, the GTZ will allocate EUR20,000 from its total contribution of EUR2,000,000 for use in the establishment of small, selected pilot projects and activities.
Said project will also be implemented in selected LGUs in Regions 7 and 8, Atienza revealed. (PIA/Jemin B. Guillermo)