MANILA, Philippines — Adapting and mitigating the worsening impacts of climate change should be prioritized in socioeconomic planning to achieve the country’s long-term vision.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua emphasized that solutions to climate change need to be placed at the heart of economic planning in the Philippines.
Doing so would help the country achieve the Ambisyon Natin 2040, which is the long-term vision and aspirations of the Filipino people for themselves and for the country in the years to come.
Chua maintained that addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution has become the government’s development challenge.
“If we are to eradicate extreme poverty in the Philippines by 2040 and hand down a better planet, climate change adaptation and mitigation need to be placed at the heart of socioeconomic planning,” he said.
Greenhouse gas emissions, declining health of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and pollution and waste are among the problems that countries are facing that impact economic growth.
Chua said the National Economic and Development Authority or NEDA has proposed that the next Philippine Development Plan should have a theme of “saving our planet, saving our country.”
To address environmental problems, the government formulated the Philippine Action Plan for Sustainable Consumption and Production to provide the guiding framework towards the shift to sustainable and climate-smart practices and behaviors across sectors.
This is targeted to facilitate green recovery by integrating circular economy approaches to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The country will be hard-pressed to address pollution and shift to sustainable consumption and production if there is a large scale of inequality in the country, where the poor cannot afford to eliminate, for instance, the tingi culture,” Chua said.