MANILA — The Climate Change Commission (CCC) and the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) have reaffirmed their commitment to enhance collaboration in advancing climate governance and promoting good governance practices across the Philippines. In a recent meeting, CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert Borje and UP-NCPAG Dean Dr. Kristoffer Berse explored potential areas of collaboration, including efforts to improve climate financing access for vulnerable local government units, enhance stakeholder capacities in climate change programming, and strengthen institutional support for climate initiatives, as announced in a news release on Saturday.
According to Philippines News Agency, this partnership is driven by the shared objective of harnessing UP's esteemed academic and professional expertise to refine the commission's capabilities and proficiency in climate governance. Borje emphasized that this collaborative effort is in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s commitment to bolster the resilience of vulnerable communities, facilitate climate financing, and improve the programming capacities of diverse stakeholders. He noted the importance of partnerships like this with UP-NCPAG in addressing the specific challenges faced in climate governance.
Dean Berse underscored the critical role of the CCC in leading climate governance initiatives, particularly in cooperation with local government units. He pointed out that the Philippines' experience offers valuable models and benchmarks for other nations grappling with similar vulnerabilities to climate change. Berse highlighted UP-NCPAG's potential to significantly contribute to the CCC by creating a platform that brings together these valuable resources and experiences.
The CCC, as the Philippine government's primary policy-making body on climate change, is responsible for coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating climate-related programs and ensuring their integration into national, sectoral, and local development plans. Meanwhile, UP-NCPAG is recognized as one of the leading academic institutions in the country for public management and policy, committed to instruction, research, and extension services.
This reinforced partnership builds upon the Memorandum of Agreement signed between CCC and UP in 2013, aimed at strengthening technical collaboration in capacity development and climate services and actions for national government agencies, local government units, local state colleges and universities, the academe, private sector, development partners, civil society organizations, and vulnerable sectors of society.