Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga recently unveiled a roadmap to prepare the country against natural disasters resulting from climate change and to reduce its carbon footprint.
The first step is to conduct an inventory of the country’s natural resources because “we can only manage (them) better if we measure what we have,” Secretary Loyzaga said at the multi-stakeholder forum, ‘Towards a Greener Footprint’ in Iloilo City .
Secretary Loyzaga said local governments must work together since these risks know no political boundaries. She stressed the need for an urban development plan that local governments must follow so their political neighbors can jointly benefit from their investments in well-being and quality of life.
On top of the list of the Secretary’s roadmap is the full greenhouse gas inventory which will identify how each sector contributes to the local government unit’s emissions and therefore establish goals for emissions reduction.
The third point is the inventory of each locality’s “green and blue assets”. Citing examples from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which show that mangroves and wetlands sequester carbon as much as ten times greater than mature tropical forests, she said, “Our terrestrial, coastal, and marine forests are here and we can calculate their carbon sequestration capacity and storage.”
With these data from the inventory, local governments can also learn how to prepare better for disasters caused by natural hazards and climate change. “Local governments will also need to conduct a biodiversity inventory that covers both flora and fauna, and adopt nature-based and grey-green solutions to natural hazards,” Secretary Loyzaga emphasized.