Climate Change Still a Priority: Cimatu

Despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continuously devastating the economy and the lives of many people, climate change still remains to be a top priority by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“The climate emergency remains as urgent as ever. It is like the COVID-19 emergency, just in slow motion and much graver,” said Environment Secretary and Cebu Overseer Roy Cimatu.

Cimatu is the chairman on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR).

Cimatu explained that if climate change is ignored, it will be a bigger crisis than COVID-19 as it will have multiple effects and existential risks in the future.

“The government—through the Cabinet Cluster on CCAM-DRR—will prioritize actions and investments that will reduce long-term health impacts and increase our resilience and adaptive capacity to both the coronavirus pandemic and climate change,” Cimatu said.

Major protection programs including reforestation and biodiversity conservation, solid waste management and more, must be consistent even with the current COVID-19 crisis.

“High volumes of hazardous waste and the dramatic spread of zoonotic diseases account to the growing challenges that the government has to face to help alleviate problems in this deadly pandemic,” he added.

The cabinet cluster on CCAM-DRR was created under Executive Order 24, Series of 2017 which aims to protect and conserve all environment and natural resources in the country. (MLC)