BUTUAN CITY – Concerned government agencies have started preparing alternative methods for next year’s disaster risk reduction, in an effort to avert the loss of life and destruction of properties during incidence of calamities.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and other concerned government agencies, including local government units (LGUs), also laid down their 2010 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) in pursuing “green” growth in the Philippines, particularly in the countryside.

Among these projects include “Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in Local Development Planning and Decision Making Processes (Integrating DRR/CCA)” and “Strengthening the Philippines’ Institutional Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change.”

These projects are under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The said 2010 approach came out during the recent Ensuring Environmental Sustainability Outcome Board meeting between the Government of the Philippines (GOP) and the UNDP.

Outcomes of the programs on sustainable development funded by the UNDP were presented during that meeting, it was gathered.

“The preparation of a new MTPDP presents a new opportunity for us to incorporate green growth strategies into our development policies and plans,” said NEDA Deputy Director Rolando G. Tungpalan in a statement.

The NEDA official also said the Philippine government should be able to draw from the rich available resources of information on green strategies, referring to program initiatives on environmental sustainability presented during the Outcome Board Meeting.

The current MTPDP ends in 2010 and NEDA is starting to prepare a successor MTPDP for the next six years under a new administration.

“With climate change at the center of the world stage these days, there is a mad rush for available resources aimed at green growth and sustainable development,” Tungpalan said.

The NEDA official, however, noted that the government should be able to have a “smarter” way of using these available resources to fund the country’s development priorities and produce results.