The Climate Change Commission (CCC) and partners capped the celebration of the 18th Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together in making the country climate-resilient.
Taking the cue from CCC chairman, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who spoke at the event via video to reaffirm his determination to confront the challenges of climate change with decisive action, CCC vice chair and executive director Robert E. A. Borje signed the MOU on behalf of the agency together with officials of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), government-owned and controlled corporations, Save the Children, Planoteerism, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippine Information Agency, Nueva Vizcaya State University, First Gen, and the United Nations World Food Program, at the Palacio de Maynila, Malate, Manila.
“In this critical decade, action cannot be delayed, and it cannot be shouldered by any single institution alone. This is the powerful truth that brings us together: climate change demands a whole-of-society response,” Borje said.
NCIP chairperson Marie Grace T. Pascua called the MOU “a powerful mechanism that ensures the wisdom and practices of Indigenous Cultural Communities are recognized, interfaced, and integrated.”
Under the MOU, partners pledged to advance joint climate communication and advocacy, support inclusive research, enhance local resilience, and strengthen climate change and disaster risk management.
The event with the theme “Makabagong Kilusan Para sa Klima at Kinabukasan” also recognized individuals and long-standing partners, including DAILY TRIBUNE.
CCC deputy executive director Romell Antonio O. Cuenca said the recognition of the various partners affirms the dedication and innovation that each partner brings to this crucial fight inspire all and set the foundation for the results it continues to strive for.
Meanwhile, Shirley H. Cruz, the vice president and chief of staff at First Gen Corporation and First Philippine Holdings Corp., said the partnership would enable more local government units to access the tools, knowledge and support they need to protect their people.
For ACEN CEO Eric Francia, he said, “We need to stay focused and step back in building a low-carbon future, because the choices we make today will lock in the path our country takes for decades.”
Collective resilience is rooted in diversity and shared responsibility, according to Helen Biangalen-Magata, executive director of Tebtebba, an indigenous peoples’ global policy, research, education and resource center.
“By embracing and supporting indigenous knowledge and rights, we honor their contribution, but also strengthen our own capacity as a nation to adapt and thrive in the face of change and climate change,” she said.