21 April 2014 - Dr. Antonio La Viña, a known Philippine expert on good governance and climate change, and Dean of the Ateneo School of Government in Manila keynoted the experts’ roundtable on “Cooperation in Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and Climate Change – The Role of the Philippines” in Brussels. The experts’ roundtable was co-organized by the Philippine Embassy in Brussels and the European Institute of Asian Studies (EIAS) at the EIAS building on April 7.
Philippine Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and Head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union (EU) Victoria S. Bataclan delivered the opening remarks for the event. In her speech, she underscored the importance of cooperation to reduce the impact of disasters in view of their long-term effects on poverty and human development which undermine global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. “While disasters, either man-made or natural, do not choose when and where to strike and who to mobilize, everyone can work together to reduce avoidable loss of life, property and livelihoods whenever disasters strike. Everyone can cooperate with one another in order to reduce disaster risks and vulnerabilities, mitigate disaster impacts and improve responses to future disaster”, the Ambassador stated.
In his address, Dean La Viña talked about climate change and disasters and how these affect the Philippines. He discussed the measures undertaken by the Philippines to manage the impact of disasters brought on by climate change. He explained the various policy and legal frameworks adopted by the country to assist communities from the national to local levels whenever disasters occur. He also outlined the developments in the climate change talks and provided some insider anecdotes to illustrate the difficulties of negotiating a legally binding successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.
Mr. Ian Clark from the Policy and Implementation Frameworks of the Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO) of the European Commission provided a European perspective on the issue. He discussed the EU disaster risks management policy and its support to developing countries which, focuses on building resilient communities in crisis prone countries. He also talked about the post 2015 Hyogo Framework of Action including the principles that should guide the revised agreement in 2015.
The speakers agreed that next year presents a significant opportunity to craft effective agreements on both climate change and disaster risk reduction frameworks with the Conference of Parties (COP) in Paris and the High Level Conference in Hyogo both scheduled for 2015.
The experts’ roundtable was very timely as member countries from Asia and Europe under the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) prepare for the Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRMM) in Manila from June 4 to 6, 2014. The Conference seeks to highlight the lessons learned from Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and other mega disasters by identifying gaps and challenges and sharing best practices in technology, innovation, systems and procedures. It also aims to come out with the “Tacloban Declaration” which will contain proposals for the post-2015 global architecture on DRRM.
Dr. La Viña also served earlier as a speaker on “Leadership and Entrepreneurship Program,” a distance learning project on entrepreneurship organized by the Embassy and the Ateneo de Manila on April 5. END