BAGUIO CITY – The city government has approved a Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) which will be implemented until 2030 to make the city resilient from disasters.
Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan, in a phone interview on Wednesday night, said the plan will serve as a guide for programs, projects, and activities geared towards climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“The plan identifies problems so that we can make a long-term protection to future problems,” the official said.
The LCCAP is a planning document prepared by the city with substantial content on policies, programs, strategies, and initiatives specific to the city’s situation and condition that will increase the community’s resilient and adaptation actions to the impacts of climate change and reduce the greenhouse gas emission that serves as mitigation actions.
He added that Resolution 578-2021 adopted the local plan that will help the local government effectively and efficiently address several important urban problems and issues related to water and power supply, food security, management of solid and liquid waste, urban mobility, housing, parks and open spaces, health and sanitation, and disaster risks.
The local plan is patterned after the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change and the National Climate Change Action Plan that underscores the integration of adaptation and mitigation measures into all existing national and local plans and strategies.
Section 14 of Republic Act (RA) 9729 otherwise known as the Climate Change Act of 2009 provides for the role and participation of local government units and barangays in the formulation and implementation of local climate change action plans.
Under the law, local governments shall be the front-line agencies in the formulation, planning, and implementation of climate change action plans in their respective areas, consistent with the provisions of the Local government code, the framework, and the National Climate Change Action Plan.
Moreover, barangays shall be directly involved with municipal and city governments in prioritizing climate change issues and in identifying the implementation of best practices and other solutions.
The law also emphasizes the importance of an inter-local government unit collaboration in the conduct of climate-related activities. **PNA
