speech on environmental awareness by f anton nicolas

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“What’s happening in our environment?”MMSU- CTE UNESCO Club in cooperation with DENR PENRO

Inter-high Competition on Environmental AwarenessJanuary 30, 2014, MMSU- CTE, Laoag City

Ladies and gentlemen, officers and members of the UNESCO Club, officials of

the MMSU- CTE– our partners in environmental protection, the competitors, a

pleasant day to all of you.

This year 2014, has arrived with much fervor as we, in the DENR take on the

role of representing the varied issues and challenges that our citizens expect

us to address. And though we have different advocacies, I wish to enjoin

everyone today, to take a closer look at the state of our environment and

how it is intrinsically linked to climate change--the greatest humanitarian and

development challenge of our time.

As the theme for today’s activity goes—What is happening in our

environment? The question may be too plain and simple, as anyone of you

may quickly answer with the most straightforward response such as:

“degrading,” “disgraceful,” “contaminated,” or “in bad shape.” Yet, such

answers are too profound that it would somehow require “someone” to give

further details about. Having been appointed as an “steward of the

environment” for decades, and having been assigned to the most critical and

stable areas from Luzon, Visayas, all the way to Mindanao, may I say then

perhaps, that I could be that “someone” who can enlighten you with facts

and figures about what is really happening in our environment (I hope I won’t

scare you).

First, let’s talk about rains and storms.

We are all aware that typhoons are normal occurrences in a tropical country

like the Philippines with some 20 typhoons heading our way every year. But

lately, the occurrence of torrential rains has been increasing even with the

absence of typhoons.

The heavy and excessive rainfall we are experiencing is part of what climate

scientists call "the new norm." This means we shall experience weather

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extremes that are more widespread and harder to predict. As an archipelago,

70 percent of the cities and municipalities in the country are coastal areas;

and as we experience the intensity of the changing climate through extreme

weather events, our communities and citizens, especially those unprepared,

become more at risk.

Who would forget Ondoy, Pepeng, Santi, Sendong, and Yolanda which has

been described by experts as the strongest typhoon that has ever made

landfall in the course of recorded human history? It was so strong that if

there was a Category 6, it would have fallen squarely in that box. Up to this

hour, we remain uncertain as to the full extent of the devastation, as

information trickles in an agonizingly slow manner.

Scientific studies suggest that the occurrence of tropical storms can increase

between 10 to 40 percent in the next century as a result of greenhouse gas

emissions. Furthermore, these storms can become 45 percent more intense.

This is a new norm.

The challenges brought by this new norm seem daunting, but the solution

can start with ourselves, and everyone's effort put together. After all, it

makes a big difference when a tree is planted in every home, or a plastic

bottle is put to good use instead of being dumped in a pile of other non-

biodegradable waste materials, or when households manage their wastes

with due regard for others, or even as simple as buying only what you need.

In terms of legislation, we have enough laws and policies needed to help us

achieve sustainable and disaster-resilient communities.

We have the Philippine Environmental Impact Statement System, Marine

Pollution Control Law, the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Ecological Solid

Waste Management Act, Renewable Energy Act, Environmental Awareness

and Education Act, Climate Change Act, the Disaster Risk Reduction and

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Management Act, Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes

Control Act, the Act Creating the People's Survival Fund, among many

others. The preponderance of environmental and climate change laws,

however, is not a guarantee of security.

More than 12 years ago our legislators enacted the Solid Waste Management

Act, but from last year's statistics of the National Economic and Development

Authority, only 414 of 1,610 LGUs nationwide, or only 25.7%, have complied

with the national plan. We need to assess the state of enforcement of these

laws because it is by effective enforcement that we can ensure compliance

in practice.

In mitigating the effects of climate change, we need to double our efforts in

protecting our environment and resuscitating our ailing ecosystems.

Air quality is also expected to improve with the rehabilitation of forests

through the National Greening Program (NGP) or reviving green patches in

the metropolis.

Of the country's total land area of about 30 million hectares, only 7.168

million hectares, or 24.27 percent, are forest covered. The ideal should be at

least 12 million hectares or 48 percent of the total land area.

The National Greening Program, which was officially launched in May 2011,

aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of land by the end of

President Benigno Aquino III's administration.

For 2011, 89.6 million seedlings have been planted nationwide, while in

2012, a total of 125.6 million seedlings were planted.

The program is seen to contribute to mitigating climate change since trees

absorb carbon dioxide, which is among the identified causes of global

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warming. The NGP has also helped generate jobs--364,088 jobs in 2011 and

380,696 in 2012--in seedling production and caring for the planted seedlings.

In the aspect of coastal and marine management, we need to double our

efforts so that we may rehabilitate our marine ecosystems. The destruction

of our marine ecosystems will not only lead to the extinction of thousands of

species but will also be detrimental to tourism, food supply, and sustenance

and livelihood of our fisher folk.

The Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau is implementing the Integrated

Coastal Management Program to provide technical assistance to local

government units in the development and adoption of their respective ICM

plans. A total of 158 LGUs have already developed their ICM plans as of May

2013 and the PAWB aims to provide technical assistance to 667 additional

LGUs by 2016. In Ilocos Norte, 7 out of 9 coastal LGUs have already

complied.

Now, if we examine the respective targets of these current programs, we are

hopeful that we can build an environment that would mitigate the effects of

the warming climate. But we need to do more in protecting our people,

especially the poor, against natural hazards.

I dare say the new norm requires from us a change in perspective, which I

hope to sum up in the mantra: "resilience is an attitude."

Resilience is an attitude - Disaster risk reduction is not a cost, but an

investment.

Resilience is an attitude - "I may be blind, but I have vision," says visually-

impaired Senator Monthian of Thailand, member of the Committee on the

Rights of Person with Disabilities. Mr. Monthian Buntan has served as a

Senator of the Upper House of the Royal Thai Parliament since 2008. He has

been blind since birth. He has been advocating for the Improvement of

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Disaster Evacuation Plans around the world to meet the special needs of

people including persons with disabilities, the elderly, children, refugees, and

cultural/linguistic minorities.

Resilience is an attitude - The glass is half-full, because after all, hazards are

natural, and it is disasters that are man-made. We can always find innovative

solutions to existing problems, and most importantly, we are never out of or

lacking resources, we only need to effectively manage what we have so we

can maximize on them.

And what completes the solution is this theory: developing resilience may be

more effective if we provide adequate social protection especially to the

poor, who bear the greatest economic losses in disasters. For many of our

people, every single day of work is synonymous to survival. When

impassable roads due to heavy downpour prevent a daily wage earner from

going to work, it would mean no earnings for the day, no food on the table.

Increasing resilience means addressing poverty, so that finally, the growth of

the economy will be felt by more of our people whose quality of life will have

truly improved.

Therefore, let me leave you a message of hope to ponder on regarding our

environment: “as long as we walk in the right path towards sustainable

development and a healthy environment with the character and attitude of

resilience, we will be able to weather the challenges of our environment’s

new norm.

Now, what is really happening in our environment?—I hope, you know the

answers. Good day and God bless everyone!

speech on environmental awareness by f anton nicolas

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