Climate change experts, researchers, policy makers totaling 160 from government, academe CSOs and the private sector gathered for a two-day, multi-stakeholder consultation to formulate the country’s research and development agenda on climate change.

The holding of the consultation was spearheaded by the Climate Change Commission, together with the Department of Science and Technology and the DENR-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau, with support from the Gesellschaft fur International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the University of the Philippines System.

Climate Change Commission Vice Chair Mary Ann Lucille L. Sering bared that the holding of the consultation stresses the need to prepare a research and development agenda on climate change as embodied in the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP).

“The basic idea is to determine research gaps, what researches need to be conducted and, later, establish the Climate Change R&D Community of Practice group,” Sering explained.

“The group will work on a comprehensive and cohesive Philippine Climate change Research and Development Agenda that answers the country’s need for collective actions to environmental, social, political, and economic impacts of climate change. This will serve as a guiding document for the country’s research, science and academic institutions assisting the public, private and non-government sectors in the quest for formulating solutions to issues and concerns brought about by climate change,” she added.

Prior to the holding of the consultation, an inventory was made on the latest researches on climate change, particularly those focusing on NCCAP’s seven strategic priorities (food security, water sufficiency, environmental and ecosystem stability, human security, climate smart industries and services, sustainable energy and knowledge and capacity development), trends and current focus in R&D of the government, academe, and CSOs, among others.

The consultation was held on April 19-20, 2012 at the UP GT-Toyota Auditorium (The Asian Center) in Diliman, Quezon City and was supported by the Inventory of Methods for Adaptation on Climate Change project and the Support to the CCC on the Implementation of the NFSCC and Action Plans, both from GIZ of the German Government, and the Climate Change and Clean Energy Project (CEnergy) of the USAID.

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April 24, 2012