RP to host UN's Nairobi work program

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is hosting the review of the United Nations initiated Nairobi work program on climate change this week at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati City.          

The review will take place from Sept. 28 to 30.          

The Nairobi work programe seeks to help countries signatory to the Climate Change Convention assess their vulnerability to climate change and make practical decisions to adapt to its impact such as decreased water availability and crop production, as well as increased frequency and intensity of storms.

The Philippines is considered one of the 10 countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels because of its large population and long coastlines, which have a combined length of 36,289 kilometers. 

The country’s agriculture, forestry and freshwater resources are also vulnerable to climate change.

The UN recognizes that reforestation would significantly reduce the adverse effects of greenhouse gas emissions, which is blamed for global warming.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) announced that it has started to implement a project to reduce emissions caused by forest degradation.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje has signed over the weekend a $3.73-million project with German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to implement the “Climate-Relevant Modernization of the National Forest Policy and Piloting of REDD Measures in the Philippines.”

Co-signatory was GTZ director Jochem Lange.

The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety commissioned the project, which provides incentives to developing countries that reduce losses in forestry assets. 

The REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) measures under the project promise to provide environmental, economic and social benefits for host communities as well as to protect the rights of indigenous peoples.

Paje said the project would be implemented in the upland watersheds of Leyte and Panay Island.

– With Rhodina Villanueva