Govt info officers, LGUs urged to prepare Climate Change Communication Plans
In the series of Climate Change briefings undertaken by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)6, the DA, DOST and DENR with the government information officers and the local government units, the preparation of communication plans has been urged.
PIA 6 Dir. Janet Mesa said these communication plans are supposed to be the blue print for action especially of government information officers of national government agencies and the LGUs.
The PIA 6 has been implementing its own Communication Plan based on the mandates of Task Force (TF) on Climate Change and its role as information arm of the TF.
With the Climate Change Act in effect, the more that people should be educated on climate change, how to cope with it and how to take part in the mitigation measures, and this campaign should be initiated by the local officials and the information officers, Mesa said.
The different information officers’ groups in the region, like the Capiz Association of IOs, Negros Association of IOs, Association of Government IOs in Iloilo, as well as those in Antique and Aklan, have signed statements of support for Climate Change and have started efforts in firming up communication plans.
The Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies have also oriented the media and the government information officers on the preparation of action plan on Climate Change last Nov. 20.
The PIA 6 communication plan highlights among others the need for people to be informed of the reality of climate change, that the government is taking steps to mitigate its impacts and that the people have a stake in all the adaptation and mitigation measures.
Recently, President Arroyo received the Multi-Media Cultural Communications Framework Action Plan on Climate Change from sectoral groups composed of students, professors, media practioners, OSYs, NGOs and multilateral funding agencies.
A PIA news dispatch said that the plan included crucial messages that said that climate change is a test of leadership in the 21st century, that the future of global market hangs in the balance, effective climate action can trigger an era of sustainable prosperity, that transformation is possible and viable and climate action is integral to human security.
This frame work, according to the same dispatch, came in the heels of the Philippine participation in the coming Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, which President Arroyo will head. (PIA6/ESS)
