LGUs, tourism stakeholders signed The Legazpi Declaration on 1^st PTCCCA

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 3 (PIA) -- Provincial and city government tourism offices and private stakeholders have affirmed commitment to pursue and implement plans and strategies to mainstream climate change adaptation to sustain development for the tourism industry in the country.

The 1^st Philippine Tourism Conference on Climate Change Adaptation forms part of the unrelenting pursuit and strengthen commitment to mainstream CCA to address climate variability and extremes, moreover, direct adaptation measures among tourism stakeholders, especially among local government units, in the country.

Earlier on, the leagues of provinces, cities and municipalities had already affirmed similar commitments which evidently manifested that the implementation of direct adaptation measures remains local or lies on the hands of LGUs and residents.

Representatives of the national government agencies, local government units, policy makers, academe, religious groups, private and public communities, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the tri-media practitioners, on the occasion of the 1ST PTCCCA recently held here recognized the exigent need to pursue the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Republic Act No. 9729, or the “Climate Change Act”, and the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) 2011-2028 as the core mechanism for climate change mitigation and adaptation at the local level.

Participants also affirmed to promote private public partnership initiatives (PPPI) with scientific communities and academic institutions to enhance science-based policies for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction; and to further encourage cost-effective and widely accessible technologies for climate change adaptation and mitigation and disaster risk management;

Recognizing the importance of achieving greater synergy between local actions and national strategies and programs and the importance of strengthening cooperation among local government units for attaining and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), tourism stakeholders appealed, through the Legazpi City Declaration on 1^st PTCCCA, President Benigno S. Aquino III to enjoin national government agencies dealing with tourism development and promotions to integrate climate change adaptation in the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP);

Stakeholders also appealed for the full implementation and monitoring of local development plans and programs anchored with NTDP with corresponding budget; to acknowledge that climate change adaptation is a critical issue that local government units in the country must recognize and address to institutionalize the eco-cultural tourism strategies; mobilize financial support to build capacity for the local government units and stakeholders to address climate change; support innovative Eco-Cultural Tourism policies and adaptation measures to promote progressive sustainable patterns of consumption and production;

Also, to enhance capacity of the Tourism sectors in vulnerability assessment, socio-economic impacts, and anticipatory adaptation and mitigation measures, option and activities in the respective regions, provinces, cities and municipalities; conduct local inventory of cultural heritage and property and impact assessment in their respective provinces, cities and municipalities; promote „climate-proofing‟ development through genuine multi-sectoral participation; promote social dialogue between tourism and cultural workers, and employers to realize potential for eco-cultural tourism and green jobs; and request the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to showcase the Legazpi City Declaration on 1^st PTCCCA.  (MAL/LCCAD/PIA5)