Background

• Climate change is considered one of the most threatening environmental problems of the 21st century.
  
• The warming of the climate system as revealed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Fourth Assessment Report is now unequivocal. This is evidenced by increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.
  
• Concrete steps to address the problem have been undertaken by the international community under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which espouses the principle that the parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations, on the basis
  of equity and in consonance with their common but differentiated responsibilities.
  
• The latest UNFCCC conference held in Bali 2007 concluded with the adoption of the Bali roadmap, outlining a new negotiating process to be concluded by 2009 that will ultimately lead to a post-2012 international agreement on climate change.   Forming the core elements of the Bali roadmap are key decisions such as the launch of the Adaptation Fund as well as decisions on technology transfer and on reducing emissions from deforestation.
  
• While the international climate process of decision-making is in place, the development of the Philippines' country positions is primarily a government undertaking under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Committee on Climate Change (IACCC) chaired by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
  and co-chaired by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). However, in January 2007, the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC) was created with the Department of Energy (DOE) as Chair. This has created confusion in the overall climate change work in the Philippines.
  
• In the meantime, there are community-level climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts being undertaken in various parts of the country which may or may not be known to policy makers and government agencies.
  
  
  
  Objectives
  
  The conference-workshop aims to: