The five municipalities of Guimaras are urged to craft their respective ordinance containing their expanded Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) during the first Guimaras Climate Change Summit held in this municipality on Tuesday.

Climate Change Commissioner Albert dela Cruz, in his prerecorded message, said the province is considered “highly vulnerable” because it is a coastal area.

He added that due to climate change, the province and the municipalities will be expecting ocean acidification due to increased water temperature.

“The enhanced Local Climate Change Action Plan will be the bible of each and every LGU (local government unit) in our fight against the debilitating effects of climate change,” he said, adding that the lives of livelihood of the people are at stake.

The action plan contains how the LGU will address the risk of hunger due to climate change, and an inventory of vulnerable sectors and indigenous communities who are exposed to the problem, among others.

Climate Change Commission Senior Consultant Dr. Michael Raymond A. Aragon said climate change “impacts deeply” in Guimaras, citing, in particular, the effects of the El Niño and the La Niña phenomena.

“If we have this phenomenon, its impact in Guimaras is hunger, the livelihood. The drought will impact the agriculture sector, the drought will impact poverty. These are the things that we would like to talk about in these two days,” he said.

Aragon added that among the five LGUs, the municipality of Nueva Valencia has already submitted its LCCAP but they would like the local government to put it into an ordinance.

If it is an ordinance, then funds can be allocated to implement the action plan, he said. (PNA)