People walk through an alleyway on 24 November 2019 in Venice during a high tide. (AFP)

It may be time for Congress to declare Disaster and Climate Emergency Awareness Year in 2020 to address the dangers brought by increasingly deadly weather events spawned by climate change.

The call came amid the United Nations-Green Climate Fund’s approval of a $10-million grant for a multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning system (MH-IBF-EWS) in the Philippines. Another $58 million is set to be released in February next year for similar projects.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda recently filed House Resolution 535 asking for the declaration a Disaster Year that will enable the government to, among others, require urgent policy responses to address climate and disaster impacts, and whether national and local budget allocations and expenditures are climate and disaster responsive.

Salceda was the first Asian UN-GCF co-chair, elected by 172 developing countries.

The filing of the resolution came following a recent visit to the House by members of the Philippine Councilor’s League, which urged lawmakers to consider the working output of the PCL climate change conference—the declaration of 2020 as Disaster and Climate Change Awareness Year.

“The Philippines has been suffering from a disaster and climate emergency which now compels a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation policy response to anticipate, halt, reduce, reverse, address and adapt to its impacts, consequences and causes,” Salceda said.

HR 535 also calls on Congress to highlight the role of local government units in leading the process of transformation and adaptation to climate change and disaster resilience.

The resolution urged legislators to conduct continuous inquiries in aid of legislation and in relation to its oversight functions, on measures being implemented by all concerned national agencies and local government units to address the impacts of disasters and climate change on the fundamental rights of Filipinos; ensure the full integration and convergence of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts through the passage of the Department of Disaster Resilience bill as an urgent policy response; and enjoin a whole-of-government, whole-of-nation and whole-of-society mobilization in times of disaster and climate emergency.

Salceda said the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in its 2016 Paris Agreement, recognized that climate change adaptation, which ensures global responsiveness and societal resilience for a sustainable future, is a global challenge.

The Paris Agreement, which involves the Philippines, acknowledge that science and the best available technology should be harnessed to inform and guide climate change adaptation efforts, including access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessment for the people by 2030.

The Philippines has suffered tremendous losses, damage and disruptions due to destructive typhoons. Despite the efforts by various national agencies tasked to confront disasters, the country is still grappling with institutional issues on climate and disaster governance.