The recently concluded and highly successful multistakeholder forum organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was “just a first step” towards bringing people together to achieve shared goals for the environment.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said this in her closing remarks during the 2022 DENR Multistakeholder Forum held on October 5-7 in Manila.
“The forum is just a first step to construct a big picture that will unite all our efforts under an umbrella of shared values,” Loyzaga said, noting that the DENR will continuously learn and adapt in this volatile, complex and uncertain environment.
Loyzaga expressed her gratitude to all participants and hoped that they will never get tired of sharing their ideas and ideals with the DENR.
The forum was conceptualized to inspire further action and engage the society in a process that would lead to strategic and impactful actions toward the fulfillment of the DENR’s mandate of protecting the environment and conserving the country’s natural resources.
Discussions in the forum are essential contributions to the identification of strategies and priority actions of the DENR. These will serve as critical inputs to the policy reform agenda; systems and collaboration mechanisms; and shared programs, actions and plans of the agency using the climate and resiliency lens.
The three-day forum aimed at accelerating the DENR’s mission of mobilizing the citizenry in protecting, conserving, and managing the environment and natural resources. It also underscored that inclusive, science-based, risk-informed, and equitable policies and programs are integral to the nexus governance that the country needs.
It was in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to address the impacts of climate change, a priority of his administration’s national agenda.
President Marcos himself graced the forum to deliver a keynote address in which he promised that environmental initiatives to combat climate change will be undertaken under his watch.
“I know it is only the beginning of a challenging but most important task of protecting the only earth and home that we know,” Marcos said. “As your President, I assure you that our environment and our country’s resiliency and adaptation to the new norms of climate change are on top of the national agenda.” ###
