The Philippine Online Chronicles

Today President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the “Climate Change Act of 2009,” a landmark bill that will institutionalize government response to climate change, abscbn-news.com reported.

Republic Act 9729, the consolidated version of Senate Bill No. 2583 and House Bill No. 5982, was enacted to “mainstream climate change into the formulation of government policy by setting up a National Framework Strategy and Program on Climate Change.”

The government aims to fast-track the implementation of a national climate change action plan from the local to the national level after typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng devastated Metro Manila and Luzon in the past weeks.

Arroyo signed the law early Friday, before leaving for Thailand to attend the ASEAN Summit that will also tackle Asian disaster response and regional climate change actions in preparation for the Copenhagen Summit in December.

The highlights of the new law include the creation of a Climate Change Commission that will coordinate, monitor and evaluate the government's programs and actions to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change, voluntary reduction of local carbon emissions, and disaster risk reduction,” presidential adviser Heherson Alvarez said in a report.

The government also called for a National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation on October 26-27.