Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima announced on Wednesday that the Php1-billion People’s Survival Fund (PSF) should soon be available to local government units (LGUs) and community organizations to fund projects aimed that mitigate the effects of climate change.
Purisima said the panel that will administer the PSF will send out a call in the coming days for project proposals from LGUs and community organizations. Purisima said the Php1-billion PSF is part of the Philippines’s commitment to do its share in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on the environment.
“In the Vulnerable 20 Summit on October 9, we led a call for concerted action against climate change, focusing on climate finance as a powerful tool.
The 20 most vulnerable countries face economic losses from climate change amounting to 2.5 percent of our GDP per year, at $45 billion in 2010 and expected to increase almost tenfold to $418 billion in 2030, according to the World Bank,” Purisima said.
“Here at home, the PSF is an example of the government’s commitment to protecting those most vulnerable from the effects of climate change. I look forward to the PSF financing innovative and adaptive projects in response to climate change,” he added.
The PSF was created by Republic Act 10174, which intended to make the government more able in addressing the problem of climate change and its effects on the environment and livelihood of Filipinos.
The law mandates the creation of a board headed by the secretary of the Department of Finance (DOF) which will administer the PSF.
The other members of the board are the vice chairman of the Climate Change Commission; secretary of the Department of Budget and Management; director general of the National Economic and Development Authority; Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government; chairman of the Philippine Commission on Women; and representatives from academe and scientific community, the business sector, and non-governmental organizations.
The PSF is intended for projects such as water resources management, land management, agriculture and fisheries, and health, among others, and shall serve as guarantee for risk insurance needs for farmers.
Requests for application forms for the project proposals may be sent to the secretariat of the PSF board at psf@climate.gov.ph.
-- Business Mirror
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