Senator
Loren Legarda said that in order to ensure the safety of our communities
against natural hazards, the government must lead a whole-of-society approach
to reducing disaster risks, preventing the creation of new risks and building
resilience of local communities and the nation as a whole.
Legarda
made the statement as the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)
released a study that showed 2015 was the hottest year on record and the
Philippines ranked fourth among countries hit by the most number of disasters
caused by natural hazards in 2015.
"We
are vulnerable to natural hazards because we are an archipelagic and developing
nation located at the western edge of the Pacific Ocean and directly within the
Ring of Fire. To address our vulnerability, our government must work double
time to achieve the goals under the Sendai Framework for DRR as well as the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the country's Intended
Nationally-Determined Contributions (INDCs)," said Legarda, UNISDR Global
Champion for Resilience.
The
Senator explained that understanding the risk will help us know how we can
effectively address it, "for governments to develop the necessary
programs, for legislators to create the appropriate enabling policies, for
local governments to develop multi-hazard early warning systems based on the
specific risk present in their communities, for the private sector to invest in
risk-reduction measures, and for citizens to be proactive in helping reduce the
risks."
"We
need to bring action down to the local level and to be able to do that,
everyone must have a good grasp of the risks so that everyone is part of
crafting the solution and the actual implementation," she added.
Legarda,
who chairs the Senate Committees on Finance and Climate Change, said that she
made sure the implementation of programs authorized under the 2016 General
Appropriations Act (GAA) would contribute towards disaster risk reduction and
climate change adaptation and mitigation.
"We
have introduced special provisions that reiterate the implementation of our
environmental laws, such as the Rainwater Collectors and Springs Development
Law, Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) Law, Climate Change Act,
Renewable Energy Law, Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act,
People's Survival Fund Act, among many others. Agencies of government are
required to contribute to implementing these laws, which should help us carry
out our commitment to achieve the goals of the Sendai Framework for DRR,"
Legarda concluded.
The
Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 sets four priority actions: understanding
disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
investing in DRR for resilience; and enhancing disaster preparedness for
effective response, and to 'Build Back Better' in recovery, rehabilitation and
reconstruction.
It
outlines seven global targets to be achieved over the next 15 years, including
substantial reduction in (1) global disaster mortality, (2) numbers of affected
people, (3) economic losses in relation to global GDP, and (4) disaster damage
to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services. It also aims to
achieve (5) an increase in the number of countries with national and local DRR
strategies by 2020, (6) enhanced international cooperation, and (7) increased
access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and
assessments. (Senate)
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