Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 10174)
The State's primary policy is to afford full protection and advancement of the right of the people to a healthful ecology in harmony with nature, adopting sustainable development and protecting the climate system for the benefit of humankind based on climate justice and the Precautionary Principle.
Climate Change is defined as a change in climate identifiable by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties persisting for an extended period, typically decades or longer, whether due to natural variability or human activity.
The Climate Change Commission is an independent and autonomous body with the status of a national government agency, attached to the Office of the President, tasked as the lead policy-making body coordinating and monitoring climate change programs and plans.
The Commission is composed of the President of the Philippines as Chairperson, three Commissioners appointed by the President including one Vice Chairperson, and an advisory board consisting of various government secretaries, heads of local government leagues, representatives from the academe, business sector, NGOs, and other stakeholders.
Commissioners must be Filipino citizens, residents of the Philippines, at least thirty years old, with proven climate change experience, honesty and integrity, educational background and expertise in climate change. At least one commissioner must be female, and no two commissioners can come from the same sector.
The People's Survival Fund is a special fund in the National Treasury established to finance adaptation programs and projects based on the National Strategic Framework on Climate Change.
An initial amount of One Billion Pesos is appropriated in the General Appropriations Act as the opening balance for the PSF. Subsequently, the fund's balance, including current year appropriations and all sources, shall not be less than One Billion Pesos, subject to review and evaluation by the Office of the President and the DBM.
The fund supports adaptation activities including water resource management, land management, agriculture, health infrastructure, vector-borne disease monitoring, climate hazard early warning systems, institutional development for local governments, support for regional climate centers, risk insurance guarantees, and community adaptation support.
The People's Survival Fund Board governs the PSF, chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Finance and composed of other high-ranking officials and representatives from the academe, business sector, and NGOs. Powers include promulgating policies, providing strategic guidance, developing safeguards, approving projects, and ensuring transparency and audits.
The Commission evaluates and reviews project proposals, recommending approval to the PSF Board with concurrence from the majority of Commissioners. It utilizes expertise from government agencies and technical experts but does not implement projects directly. It also formulates accreditation guidelines for local organizations accessing the fund.
The Act requires that community representatives and/or NGO counterparts may participate as observers in the project identification, monitoring, and evaluation process to ensure transparency and participation of vulnerable and marginalized groups.
The Department of Education must integrate climate change into primary and secondary curricula and educational materials to teach basic climate change principles and concepts.
The State recognizes the close interrelation between climate change and disaster risk reduction and mandates integrating disaster risk reduction into climate change programs and initiatives to enhance adaptive capacity to climate variability and extreme climate events.
The State adopts a gender-sensitive, pro-children, and pro-poor perspective in all climate change and renewable energy efforts, ensuring concerns and experiences of women and men are integrated into policies and programs to achieve equality and not perpetuate inequality.
In coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Commission represents the Philippines in climate change negotiations, leads the Philippine panel to the UNFCCC, and formulates the country's official positions in the international negotiation arena.