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Green Convergence names Albay as first LGU Eco Champ

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LEGAZPI CITY—Green Convergence Philippines has named Albay as its LGU Eco Champion, the first province to win its newly launched award, for its successful and effective environment policies and ecologically sound tourism program.

Green Convergence is a coalition of networks, organizations and individuals working for a development paradigm that addresses the need for social and economic uplift, while preserving nature’s life support system including air, water and land, for generations to come.

GCP president Angelina P. Galang announced Albay’s latest award in a recent  letter to Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, where she stressed the province’s “implementation of and compliance with various Philippine Environmental Laws sum up to good environmental governance and best practices which can be replicated by other local government units (LGUs).”

 Salceda, also known as the Green Economist, is credited for pioneering the Albay Green Economy, anchored on the principles of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, tripled the province’s mangrove area from 700 to 2,400 hectares, and expanded forest cover by 88 percent from 26,000 to 44,000 hectares from 2008 to 2014.

Salceda’s administration has also been globally hailed for its firm commitment to CCA and climate change mitigation. The governor is set to receive Albay’s award during the First Environment Summit scheduled Feb. 9-11, 2016 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

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Arnold Embestro, Salceda’s executive assistant for environment, who facilitated GCP’s strict award validation, said Albay will have a booth for its credentials as the first Eco Champion at the SMX Complex during the two-day summit. Among Albay’s strong points in winning the award was its organization of the Albay Climate Change Academy, the first in Asia and now a popular learning center for LGUs and even government executives from other countries on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, he shared.  

GCP has partnered with the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the 2014 launch of the first-ever National Search for LGU Eco Champions. Galang said the purpose of this search is “to determine the local governments’ compliance with the various Philippine environmental laws and similar quasi-issuances that are aimed at protecting the environment and human lives.”

 

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