Gov’t to tag climate change expenditures in the PH budget

MANILA, Philippines – The impact brought by the series of natural calamities in the Philippines emphasized the importance of making sure funds allocated for responding to climate change do not go into the wrong pockets.

Policy makers and the general public could now keep a closer tab of the government’s spending for climate change-related initiatives with the new tagging initiative in the 2015 budget process.

This was announced during the presentation of the lessons and recommendations from the progress report titled “Mobilizing the Budget for Climate Change Response in the Philippines” on Friday, October 24.

Prepared by the Climate Change Commission (CCC), Department of Budget and Management, (DBM) and the World Bank, the new report provides updates on the country’s progress in implementing reforms based on the recommendations of the Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review.

Tagging

“Tagging lets us access timely information that will be useful when agencies plan, implement, and monitor their climate change management programs. Altogether, we’re taking a very strategic approach to government spending so that our climate change initiatives are properly supported,” said Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

Supported by technical assistance from the World Bank and co-funded by the Australian Government, 53 government agencies have started tagging P136.3 billion worth of projects, or over 5% of the total 2015 national budget submissions for climate change expenditures.

The thrust of 98% of these proposed climate spending is on climate change adaptation with programs spanning from reforestation, research, disaster risk reduction, flood control, and development on climate change.

These programs are spread out into relevant sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, environment, energy, and science and technology.

“Measures like these will boost our efforts to make our communities less vulnerable to sea level rise, degradation of marine ecosystems, and extreme weather events,” said Climate Change Commissioner Mary Ann Lucille Sering.

Other efforts

Climate change expenditure tagging is not the only measure the country is doing to alleviate the impacts of climate change and natural calamities.

According to the report, the government also implemented the following measures:

• Mainstreaming adaptation/disaster risk reduction in land use plans of towns and cities.

• Strengthening building and infrastructure standards, and promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy standards.

• The creation of the People’s Survival Fund to support communities and local governments.

• Development of a disaster risk financing and insurance strategy.

According to World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi, climate change is a crucial issue the world needs to address in order to eliminate extreme poverty.

“Climate change impacts could reduce cultivable land, diminish agricultural productivity, and decrease fisheries catch, which would disproportionately hurt poor communities in high-risk urban and rural areas dependent on subsistence livelihoods,” said Mr. Konishi. – Rappler.com