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UN names Salceda 'champion' of climate change adaptation
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The Philippine Star
The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) has named former presidential economic adviser and Albay Gov. Joey Salceda as “Senior Champion” of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
In a recent three-day meeting of local government officials from around the world in Bonn, Germany.
Salceda was cited for pioneering the “zero casualty” policy through pre-emptive evacuation during disasters and hosting the National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation in two successive events attended by international crisis managers, scientists, businessmen and students.
Albay, a calamity-prone province facing the Pacific Ocean where most typhoons originate year-round, joined the conference dubbed Asia First World Congress on Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change “Resilient Cities 2010.” The conference cited Albay as a global model.
The UN-ISDR aims to build disaster resilient communities by promoting increased awareness of the importance of disaster reduction as a component of sustainable development.
It hosted the convention jointly with the Federal Government of Germany from May 28 to 31 at the Gustav Streseman Institute in Bonn.
Salceda said it is an honor to be recognized as an outstanding campaigner and implementor of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in a global gathering that puts the Philippines in the forefront of noble objectives.
The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), one of the organizers of the Bonn conference, also proposed that Salceda be named to its executive committee.
“I joined the ISDR campaign for resilient cities as global role model for Asia for two reasons: first, Albay wants to learn from the best practices in the rest of the world; second, we want to push ourselves higher on standard to drive ourselves harder on this effort and push the envelope on development through DRR and CCA,” Salceda said.
He said adaptation is an investment and not a cost: “It reduces risks, thus increases business returns. Albay has seen a surge in investments even after typhoons Reming and Milenyo, the Mayon eruption and a spate of recent disasters.
CCA and DRR allow development to proceed amid disasters,” since they don’t disrupt people’s lives and because the provincial government takes charge of disasters.
During the gathering, the Albay model was presented by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology professor Saleem Jensua, a Pakistani, using an independent field research on local adaptation effort in Albay.
Salceda’s prepared presentation titled “Albay: Zero Casualty in the Midst of Escalating Disasters-Climate Change, Disaster Management and Good Governance” was distributed as a conference paper.
Source: http://www.philstar.com, accessed on 8 June 2010.
