THE Senate Committee on Climate Change endorsed last week an early Senate ratification of an agreement for the Philippines to host the Asean Center for Biodiversity (ACB).

Sen. Loren Legarda, who chairs the committee, joined foreign-relations committee chairperson Sen. Miriam Santiago in pushing for congressional ratification of the host-country agreement on the ACB that was signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo on August 8, 2006.

Legarda explained that ratification of the agreement would enable the Philippines to host permanently the ACB, which is currently located at the campus of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna.

“This agreement will also give the center the ability to operate as a recognized international organization which is based in the Philippines,” she added.

Through this agreement, the Philippines, as well as other Asean states, and the ACB will continue to be partners in conserving our biodiversity and in complying with our commitments to different multilateral environment agreements.

With the ratification of the agreement, Legarda said the Philippines will benefit more from the center’s policy coordination and capacity-building services, biodiversity-knowledge products, and best practices which are crucial in our country’s implementation of a national biodiversity strategy and action plan.

She recalled that the ACB establishment agreement was first ratified by the Philippines in 2005.

“The first phase in the legitimization of the ACB as an international organization was completed when five other countries followed to ratify the agreement,” she said.

In her cosponsorship speech, Senator Legarda explained that climate change can cause a 2-degree-Celsius to 4-degree-Celsius rise in global temperature, which may lead to a 3-percent decline in the global gross domestic product and a 30-percent risk of extinction of Philippine biodiversity in 50 years to 100 years.

“Biodiversity protection would reduce this risk,” she said.

She added that protecting biodiversity would leave a legacy to future generations. She also called for the ACB to financially and technically assist the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) to preserve 76 percent of all known coral species and a wide variety of fish.

The Coral Triangle supports the largest tuna fisheries in the world, which generate billions of dollars in global income every year. Its healthy reef systems buffer coastal communities from cyclones and tsunamis.

Legarda reported that on May 15, the leaders of Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Malaysia declared that they will address threats to the marine, coastal and small-island ecosystems within the Coral Triangle.

The leaders adopted the 10-year Regional CTI Plan of Action, which is not legally binding but sets time limits to address growing threats to the region’s coral reefs, fisheries, mangroves, threatened species and other marine and coastal living resources. The natural resources of the Coral Triangle are at risk due to overfishing, illegal fishing, unsustainable coastal development, pollution and climate change.