Challenges to Climate Change Education in the Philippines

Among Asias developing countries, the Philippines is considered relatively advanced in terms of
legislation related to various environmental challenges such as reforestation, biodiversity
conservation, air and water quality regulation, solid waste management, renewable energy
development, natural disasters, and adoption of mitigation and adaptation measures related to
climate change. However, there is a wide gap between the enactment of laws and the enforcement
of the laws (ILO, 2011).
Given the cross-sectoral approach to tackling climate change and disasters, there is an urgent need
to pursue coordination mechanisms among various actors. The challenge is to harmonize different
plans and initiatives under a strategic framework which integrates CCA, DRR, and other related
initiatives (OCD, 2011).
DepEd recognizes the need to set-up a monitoring and evaluation system of its programs and
projects in order to improve them (OCD, 2011). However, resource constraints such as budget and
lack of dedicated staff to work on mainstreaming DRR and CCA into the curriculum are barriers to
this. Further, personnel handling DRR and CCA are borrowed from different offices in the
department, who have their regular workload. Hence, mainstreaming programs may suffer from lack
of focus and permanency of personnel. The sustainability of capacity building and training programs
also has to be ensured.
In terms of livelihood, there is no coherent national skills program responding to climate change and
environmental degradation (ILO, 2011). It is fair to state that restructuring of a green Philippine
economy is still at its incipient stage. The green economic shift requires the alignment of education,
skills development and training with the labor requirements of green and greener industries.
Additional strategies are necessary for environmental conservation and for communities that are
vulnerable to climate change risks. DepEd, especially in its K to 12 program, and the Climate Change
Commission should include anticipation of these kinds of skills changes as part of the national action
planning on climate change.
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