The following guiding questions are aligned to each of the three main Leadership Dialogues planned for the Stockholm+50 meeting and will be integrated into the overall consultation agenda and report. Please refer to the question number in your comment.

  1. LD1: Reflecting on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity of all:
     
    1. How can we restore and regenerate a positive relationship with nature? List 2 or 3 good practices and pathways that you would like to see scaled up to enable a move to a healthy planet?
       
    2. What are the actions that you (your group) would take to scale up the change towards a healthy planet? What policies/structures need to be in place for you to take such action?
       
    3. How could marginalised and vulnerable groups benefit from policies and initiatives designed to restore a more sustainable and resilient relationship with nature (that mitigates nature risks)?
       
    4. How can we safeguard the rights of people and nature, including among others, indigenous peoples and local communities, environmental defenders, women, youth, future generations?
       
    5. What are the new or prioritized set of metrics and indicators needed for tracking our progress towards a healthier and more prosperous planet?

Comments (2)

Rainier Allan S. Requinala
Rainier Allan S. Requinala

A positive relationship with nature means…

      • Voluntary compliance with environmental laws.
      • Positive behaviors/attitude towards the environment.
      • Fostering partnerships and multisectoral collaboration and catalyzing local and international cooperation for biodiversity conservation projects.  

…which can be achieved through..

  • Science-based IEC. 
  • Use of systems approach. 
  • Mobilizing resources to meet growing demand for biodiversity conservation projects. 
  • Capacity building for local communities. 

To move towards a healthy planet, stakeholders shared that they could scale-up action on…

  • Adoption of a broad-based land and water use plan including tribal and ancestral lands. 
  • Policies and implementing rules and regulations on threatened/endangered species. 
  • Capacity building
  • Development of National Income Accounting that would link natural capital accounts to the GDP

On financing these projects, stakeholders pointed out that…

  • Long-term financing is preferred over short-term financing as projects have long implementation periods.
  • Private-sector financing would usually require paying back the loan as they do not provide grant financing and as development organizations are non-profits, they are not capable of paying back.

Marginalized and vulnerable groups have been experiencing risks..

  • Indigenous people: effects of climate change and natural disasters
  • Urban poor: their houses, which are built from light materials, are prone to damage from more frequent and stronger natural disasters caused by climate change.
  • Fishers: Rights of access to municipal waters (There's a continuing conflict between municipal and commercial fishing operations). Moreover, small fishers are not too empowered. In particular, they cannot speak English, which is very helpful when lobbying in. Moreover, commercial fishers can afford lawyers.

…to mitigate these risks stakeholders will help them by…

  • Educate POs/IPs under the CBFM program of DENR on how to make use of the land for planting and other forestry activities
  • Help the urban poon register as homeowners associations to be eligible for government housing loans that can be used to improve their houses / own their lands.
  • Through biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, the effects of climate change will be mitigated and the adaptive capacities of the urban poor groups will be enhanced.
  • Fund the unfundables: cater to meaningful community activities that are not getting enough attention or have some gaps that deter other funding facilities to reach out to them. 

…and will work on the following areas to safeguard their rights:

  • Be inclusive. (Example: The Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) is made up of members from various sectors, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In addition, there are also subcommitees that looks into the special needs of marginalized groups.) 
  • Promotion of collective intelligence. (Example: PCSD collaborated with Forest Foundation Philippines on a land scape governance project.)
  • Mainstream women and the LGBT by ensuring that they are recognized. (Example: The Center for Empowerment and Resource Development (CERD) help register women with Bureau of Fisheries and the Local Government as fisherfolks and with the DA registry of basic sector in farming and fisheries; once recognized they have rights to comanage the farms/ municipal waters.
  • Campaigning against encroachment of commercial fishing vessels into the municipal waters so that the whole 15 kilometres will be enjoyed by our municipal fishers. 
  • Lobbying against a house bill that would allow entrance of commercial fishing vessels into the 10.1 to 15 kms. Municipal waters. Enjoining LGUs and the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council to oppose the passing of the House Bill. 
  • Promoting preferential rights throughout the 12 Fisheries Management Areas (FMA)s of the Philippines, which should be managed as one ecosystem.
  • Develop local champions to represent small scale fisherfolks such as Ka Dodoy Ballon, who was a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee.
  • Document the sustainable fishing practices of the 13 fishing associations in Zamboanga Sibugay.
  • Advocate for a policy on preferential rights instrument, specifically having a tenurial instruments for fisherfolks similar to CBFM for POs/IPs. 

To increase the adoption of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in the Philippines, stakeholder suggested to…

  • Emphasize the role of the natural ecosystem in adapting to the changing climate (Example: RARE’s Fishing for Climate Resilience project supported by the government of Germany).
  • Address major challenges such as the gap in terms of awareness specially at the LGU level and the lack of central convergence in terms of planning, i.e. most of the plan for disasters is in the Disaster Risk Management Plan while biodiversity conservation or MPA protection is in the CRM plan. Guidance on how to fund biodiversity projects from DRRM must be provided to LGUs. 
  • Address inadequate human resources as usually there are only 1-2 LGU workers on CRM.  
  • Incorporate the concept and principles of EbA in the formulation of policy, planning of ENR-related programs and strategies and action plans, and development of IEC materials, among others.

 

To better track progress towards a healthier and more prosperous planet, stakeholders recommended…

  • Multiplying the capacity of the country to monitor changes in the ecosystem. (The problem is despite the presence of experts and scientists specializing on biodiversity from CSOs academe and govt, their number are not enough)
  • Investing in citizen science. (This means empowering communities to generate knowledge from their indigenous knowledge systems).
  • Invest in the capacity of academe and research persons.
  • Better tracking of GHG as very few people have the capacity to do it.
  • Include people metrics in the dashboard such as the degree of participation/engagement/active involvement of communities in biodiversity conservation. 
  • Track intergeneration equity and involvement or the degree and participation of youth in possible initiatives where they can be tapped as leaders (same for women and other sectors).

 

 

 

Rainier Allan S. Requinala
Rainier Allan S. Requinala

On Challenges

  • Need for better tracking of GHG. #biodiv #M&E/data
  • Need for metrics to capture economic values in relation to the environment through the International Financing Reporting System (IFRS).  #Fin #M&E/data
  • Demonstrate profitability to encourage private sector to undertake climate financing projects. #Fin #GJobs
  • Policies are sufficient, the challenge is on implementation. #AR #nppfp
  • Tracking of expenditures is complicated and lead to “double tagging” (simplify expenditure tagging process) #AR #Fin #M&E/data
  • Culture of convenience, and aversion to challenge norms when truth is inconvenient. #hope
  • Green jobs are currently inaccessible and most jobs in the industry is profit driven. #hope #GJobs

On Opportunities

  • Conducted CC vulnerability assessments in terms of its integration into the climate smart business management plan #biodiv
  • Groundwork in place to formulate framework on private sector engagement in the implementation of NDC #Fin #nppfp

On Solutions

  • Develop metrics to track inter-generation equity and the degree of participation of communities in biodiversity conservation #biodiv #M&E/data
  • Develop taxonomy system for nature-based financing which would also capture EbA. #biodiv #Fin
  • Capacity development for FIs and clients on nature-based financing #biodiv #Fin
  • Promote blended finance and Public-Private Partnership models as a source of financing #Fin #nppfp
  • Financing incentives that support reduction of GHG emissions and continue Paris Agreement Commitments #Fin #Miti #nppfp
  • Conduct resource-efficient and cleaner production assessments at manufacturing facilities #SCP
  • Develop national policy on adaptive and shock-responsive social protection (ASRSP) plan #AR #nppfp