QUEZON CITY (PIA) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the Manila Observatory entered into an agreement on Monday to address the climate crisis and biodiversity loss in a ceremony at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

This partnership between ACB and MO, the first of its kind in ASEAN, will establish the ASEAN Climate and Biodiversity Initiative (ACBI), which seeks to collaborate on research, knowledge exchange, and cooperation to model the impacts of climate change scenarios on biodiversity. The initiative will provide valuable information to public and private institutions, as well as communities directly affected by climate change.

The ACBI will also serve as a platform for scientists, climate and biodiversity experts, researchers, communicators, and the media to actively engage and share scientific information, helping to interpret the connection between biodiversity and climate change.

Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, Executive Director of ACB, hopes that the data gathered through this partnership will aid local governments in the Philippines in better planning and preserving their natural resources.

"We hope that once this information is communicated to them and their appreciation increases, they will incorporate it into their Land Use Plan or Comprehensive Development Plan. So they know that investing in nature and biodiversity will also help enhance the resilience of their economy," she said.

The ACBI will initially be piloted in selected areas in the Philippines and later expanded to cover other critical regions in ASEAN member states. Collaboration with other agencies working on similar initiatives in each country will also be established.

Lim emphasized the media’s important role in disseminating technical information and making it more accessible to the public. 

“We have initiated capacity-building programs for the media to better appreciate reporting of biodiversity-relevant issues and concerns. With this, we tend to have more of these fora so the science can be better shared,” Lim added.

Aside from roundtable discussions and other similar fora with the media, ACB plans to launch its own network of biodiversity communicators in 2024. These communicators will participate in regional biodiversity events in the Philippines and other ASEAN member countries.

Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin, Executive Director of the Manila Observatory, highlights the distinction between weather and climate, emphasizing the importance of understanding both and their impacts on communities affected by climate change.

"This partnership aims to bridge climate change and biodiversity. The connection between our climate and biology is crucial. We hope that this partnership will help uncover and highlight these connections. Climate change has an impact on our biodiversity, and vice versa," says Fr. Villarin.

He further explained: "Weather is not climate. Weather pertains to day-to-day conditions, while climate refers to long-term patterns. We need to look beyond the next day or week and understand how our climate or weather will change in the next 10-20 years."

Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), who previously served as MO’s Executive Director, recognized the significance of the partnership. With the Philippines consistently ranking high in global disaster-risk rankings, she emphasized the need for science to influence policy, decision-making, planning, and governance.

“We need to address climate change decisively by ensuring resilience, sustainable development, poverty reduction, low-carbon economic growth will happen for our country. Very importantly, in order to do this, we need to protect, enhance, and value our biodiversity as a source of nature-based solutions to our crisis,” Sec. Yulo-Loyzaga said.

She hoped for a whole-of-society approach where all sectors work together, especially in planning and implementing environmental initiatives. She urged the Philippine media, as witnesses to this approach, to deliver evidence-based messages that will drive policy and action.

"This approach is possible if we can find effective solutions to the most pressing and complex issues of the world and if we work together," Secretary Yulo-Loyzaga said. (CH/PIA-Laguna)