The Philippines’ climate change strategies should be appropriate to the situation of the country and not just following the standards of first-world countries, according to Gibo Teodoro, the former Chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.
Teodoro said the country may be burdened in complying with the standards if it will merely adopt other nations’ strategies to mitigate impacts of climate change.
“Our country is made up of more than 7,000 islands with different conditions. We must have tailor-made climate change strategies in the Philippine,” he said.
Strategies, preparations and implementation must be fast tracked to lessen the adverse effects of typhoons, flooding in urban and coastal areas, heatwaves, drought, among others, he added.
Teodoro, who was an executive for a renewable energy firm, acknowledged that some areas in the country find it challenging to invest in cleaner sources of energy as they are in need for accessible and affordable source of power.
He emphasized the need to capacitate local government units by assisting them to implement localized strategies in combatting climate-related concerns.
