Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga recently unveiled a comprehensive 13-point roadmap to prepare the country against natural disasters resulting from climate change and to reduce its carbon footprint.

The first step is to conduct an inventory of the country’s natural resources because “we can only manage (them) better if we measure what we have,” Secretary Loyzaga said at the multi-stakeholder forum, ‘Towards a Greener Footprint’ in Iloilo City last week before local leaders, architects and urban land planners.

Secretary Loyzaga said local governments must work together since these risks know no political boundaries. She stressed the need for an urban development plan that local governments must follow so their political neighbors can jointly benefit from their investments in well-being and quality of life.

On top of the list of the Secretary’s roadmap is the full greenhouse gas inventory which will identify how each sector contributes to the local government unit’s emissions and therefore establish goals for emissions reduction.

Secondly, to complement the inventory, “It is important to design a strategy for emissions reduction that assigns the responsibility of achieving the targets per sector,” she said.

The third point is the inventory of each locality’s “green and blue assets”. Citing examples from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which show that mangroves and wetlands sequester carbon as much as ten times greater than mature tropical forests, she said, “Our terrestrial, coastal, and marine forests are here and we can calculate their carbon sequestration capacity and storage.”

With these data from the inventory, local governments can also learn how to prepare better for disasters caused by natural hazards and climate change. “Local governments will also need to conduct a biodiversity inventory that covers both flora and fauna, and adopt nature-based and grey-green solutions to natural hazards,” Secretary Loyzaga emphasized. “The right species of mangroves, in particular, can save both lives and livelihoods from storm surge by understanding the risk that we all face.”

Fourth, the Secretary encouraged adoption of industry practices that advance building more with less. “We must check the carbon intensity of our building materials for the greening programs of LGUs. Further to building and land development, her fifth point is the use of vernacular architecture, or the use of traditional materials, design and resources from the area where the building is located, as a climate adaptation measure.

“Sixth, we need to conduct a metro-wide diversity inventory that covers both flora and fauna, and adopt nature-based and grey-green solutions to natural hazards,” she continued, citing that the right species of mangroves can save lives from storm surges. “Almost 60% of production in our croplands and fish ponds are affected by flooding. These can all be addressed by nature-based solutions,” she added.

Related to this, Secretary Loyzaga also stressed the importance of a “science-informed disaster resilience strategy” as her seventh point. She cited Iloilo City’s disaster information and environmental data collection and how the city’s local disaster group is strategically working with community organizations including the business sector for an urban plan that is sensitive to climate disaster and risks.

For her eighth point, Secretary Loyzaga called on local governments to help DENR in ensuring the full implementation of the Extended Producer’s Responsibility (EPR) Law, which obliges enterprises to collect all the plastics they use in packaging. “We cannot do this alone; it is with your help that we can implement this effectively,” she stressed.

Ninth, Secretary Loyzaga highlighted the importance of integrated water resource management to address the water crisis. “The lack of accessible safe water and sanitation is especially felt by many Filipinos living in the coastal and geological hazards zones,” she explained. “Invest in the appropriate engineering and infrastructure to deliver water from source,” she told local leaders.

The 10th item in the 13-point roadmap is the shift to renewable energy to meet the country’s target of 35% reliance on renewable energy by 2030. Secretary Loyzaga disclosed that the DENR recently supported the approval of floating solar projects in Laguna de Bay, with offshore wind to follow soon.

The Secretary’s 11th point is the promotion of climate adaptation technologies such as the use of drought and flood-resistant seeds to achieve food sufficiency and nutrition. “Water intensity counts,” she said, citing a 2008 study by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) that showed it takes 2500 liters of water to produce just one kilo of rice.

The 12th point on the roadmap delves into the balance of governance and greenness to meet the population’s basic needs. To achieve a green footprint, local leaders need to go beyond policy domains to provide access to safe affordable housing, health and education, social protection and livelihood, while ensuring opportunities that respond to the daily needs of the poor for food, water and hygiene. Referring to the need to study the design of informal settlements, Secretary Loyzaga added, “This is where urban architecture is at its most basic, but these needs are yet unmet by the city.”

On her last point, the environment secretary emphasized that climate resilience demands unity, strength and endurance. Designing cities for a greener footprint, therefore, must embrace, maintain and protect the cultural and social identity of a city, she added.#