There is no turning back for the Philippines in taking to task rich nations over the issue of global warming and climate change, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said Saturday.

Salceda disclosed that the Arroyo government would insist in the coming United Nations summit on climate change that the country was a victim of climate change and developed countries should provide a greater part of the funds needed for its rehabilitation in the wake of two powerful cyclones.

The summit, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December, caps two years of negotiations on a global climate change treaty to replace the UN’s 1997 Kyoto Protocol on carbon dioxide emissions.

“We need to lock in the momentum. This is the best time to institutionalize climate change management and get the commitment (of rich nations),” Salceda said at the weekly “Kapihan sa Sulo” forum in Quezon City.

Salceda, whose province is in the forefront of efforts to mitigate the effects of global warming and climate change in the country, said the government really has to find ways on how to raise the initial P50 billion needed for the rebuilding operations.

He said President Arroyo’s earlier call for the rich nations, including the United States, to help finance her government’s rehabilitation effort was a good start.

In one of her most recent speaking engagements, Mrs. Arroyo said developed countries account for the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions that scientists all over the world have blamed for global warming, but developing nations are the most vulnerable to severe weather disturbances brought about by climate change.

Salceda, meanwhile, lauded President Arroyo for signing into law the “Climate Change Act of 2009” that calls for a national strategy for dealing with what has been described as the single biggest environmental threat facing the planet.

Under the law, a Climate Change Commission will be created to coordinate the programs of government and represent the country in international climate change conferences. The commission will be chaired by the President, who shall appoint three commissioners.
The President signed the law before leaving for Thailand to attend a conference among heads of states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Salceda said Mrs. Arroyo will return on Monday to deliver a keynote address at the start of the two-day National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation +2 to be held at the Diamond Hotel on Roxas Blvd, Malate, Manila.

Under the theme “Moving Forward on Albay Declaration 2007,” the conference will make an inventory of climate change adaptation best practices and science-based information, and form a consensus on the Philippine Strategic Framework on Climate Change Adaptation.
Salceda’s province hosted the initial staging of the conference in 2007, which sought to explore options to address the potential impact of climate change and discuss policy implications for local government units.

“The conference brought to the public consciousness urgent concerns about climate change, its impact, and adaptation measures,” Salceda said.

He said climate change adaptation mechanisms would help Filipinos cope with the increasing frequency and ferocity of typhoons. “We have shown through Albay’s example that we can cope with natural calamities. People just need to know how to minimize, if not totally avoid, damage to lives and property.”