The implementation of Philippine Agenda 21 must be anchored on the basic principle of collective choices and responsibility. Its mechanisms, therefore, must facilitate coherent and cooperative human endeavor from all sectors of society. Strengthening the role of major groups becomes a critical component of implementing the agenda. Forging new partnerships (both domestically and internationally), identification of common ground and finding areas for collaborative action are central to the process as well as building and upgrading the capacities of all stakeholders. To be able to build internal consensus on the sustainable development agenda requires no less than a consolidated and well coordinated effort at information, education, and communications advocacy for the Philippine Agenda 21.

Philippine Agenda 21 proposes a scale and level of intervention that is area-based. Hence, it requires a plan that is designed, owned and implemented at the local levels. Localization efforts shall therefore be at the core of implementing the action agenda. Simultaneously, the spirit of international cooperation shall be upheld in the areas of mutually beneficial exchange of information and technology as well as in generating finance and financing mechanisms. The country shall also remain steadfast in fulfilling its commitments in relevant global agreements.

Resource mobilization efforts are a critical part of sustaining efforts in sustainable development. As traditional sources of finance are increasingly becoming limited, generating innovative/creative financing options will form a critical part of the implementation process.

Overall, assessing the progress of PA 21 should be made within the context of a comprehensive and effective monitoring system with a defined set of sustainable development indicators.

3.1  STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS

Operationalizing sustainable development involves the interlocking components of an ecosystem and how these interrelate towards defining specific roles and addressing specific needs of individual sectors and aggrupation of sectors. The identification of key players and their interaction provide a basis for deepening our analysis and treatment of the ecosystem, as well as the definition of the varying roles that various stakeholders are expected to play for achieving sustainable development.

3.1.1 Categories of Major Stakeholders

Basic Sectors In the Philippines, the basic sectors comprise the major poverty groups. The activities of these poverty groups have taken impact on the socio-economic and ecological base of society. In 1994, 35.7 per cent of the total Filipino population are living below the poverty threshold. To put a human face to these statistics, the poverty groups include the farmers and landless rural workers, marginalized fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, urban poor and other disadvantaged groups. These groups generally live in conditions characterized by lack of basic services such as health and education, lack of access to economic opportunities and lack of participation in decision- making.

Basic sectors comprise the first group of stakeholders. These sectors are considered at the core of the socio-economic and ecological arena, and the targets of major interventions. More importantly, they play a key role in establishing the building blocks for the improvement of the quality of their lives and the protection and conservation of the environment.

Specifically, the farmers and landless rural workers suffer from limited rural service facilities and infrastructure that hamper their productive capacity; uncertain land tenure that threaten their livelihood security; and limited access to appropriate technology and marketing opportunities that constrain their economic stability and competitive edge.

The fisherfolk, on the other hand, suffer from the continuing over-exploitation and destruction of coastal resources and fishing grounds, leading to declining catch; encroachment into municipal waters by local and foreign commercial fishing vessels against which they cannot compete; and, the further reduction of freshwater fishing grounds caused by illegal structures.

The indigenous peoples (IPs) suffer from the non-recognition of ancestral domains; violation of cultural integrity; and lack of infrastructure and support services, especially in education, health and dispensation of justice.

The urban poor suffer from lack of access to security and basic facilities and services that include housing and land; and lack of opportunities for increased incomes and alternative livelihood.

Other disadvantaged groups such as workers in the informal sector, women, children and youth, persons with disabilities, elderly, disaster victims and overseas contract workers have various needs caused by the interplay of socio-economic and cultural factors.

Intermediaries. Intermediaries serve as the fulcrum upon which socio- economic, cultural and political interventions towards sustainable development depend. These are formal institutions that include the national and local government units ( LGUs); the business and private sectors, non-government organizations (NGOs); church-based organizations, civic groups and professional associations; mass media; and the international community.

3.1.2 Roles of the Major Groups in Sustainable Development

The key roles of the major stakeholders in sustainable development are defined according to sectoral needs, motivation, or interest and perspectives.

There are basic key roles that are considered "common" among the basic sectors and the intermediaries. These are anchored on basic principles that should ensure a dynamic, balanced perspective on equity, social justice and development. This dynamic balance must be established in all areas -- ecological, political, economic, social, cultural and spiritual.

Along this context, every stakeholder must be a steward of the environment. In the performance of this role, its interventions must go beyond the protection of the environment. It implies a responsibility to effect a balance between development and ecological dimensions. Equity and social justice are primary goals that should also be achieved. Such activities as participation in decision-making, information flow, and building leadership must be promoted to facilitate the provisions for enhancing the capability of sectors to participate and benefit from development.

A key player should also be an effective advocate and practitioner of sustainable development. Attitudes, values, knowledge and skills should conform to basic requirements towards a transformed lifestyle based on a balanced perspective of development.

To adopt a balanced perspective of development, concerned stakeholders should define among themselves a common framework of development. Certain amounts of skill and knowledge are necessary inputs at arriving at common parameters. Consensus-building approaches should be used to allow all the key players to participate and contribute to shaping a common agenda.

These require a certain amount of openness or transparency as well as the skills and knowledge to put forth priority issues that can affect or have an impact on the specific sectors, individually and collectively.

3.1.3 Sectoral Roles and Accountabilities

Specific sectoral stakeholders in sustainable development are characterized according to what they need, what they have at stake, and how they can enhance or maintain their interests or motivations.

As Intermediary Organizations.  A sustainable system consists of various aspects such as time, energy, knowledge, information, appropriate technology, perspectives, cultures and other multi-functional facets. These elements define the interlocking dimensions that can create the conditions for injecting palpable changes in the processes of development. Harnessing these elements create and hasten the desired results that would enable a system to control, influence or impact on the environment.

On this basis, an intermediary, as defined, can serve the following roles:

a) 

Broker of Information and Appropriate Technologies

Institutions and organizations such as media, educational institutions, and other information centers, by their very nature, play critical roles in harnessing the potentials for sustainable development. Across sectors, these specific groups are able to hasten the translation of content and processes into values, behaviors, attitudes and lifestyles.
 

b) Mobilizers of Resources

Intermediaries like business and industry groups that deal with the gathering of raw materials and inputs, their processing, production and distribution serve as mobilizers of resources. As such, this group of stakeholders become major channels that can initiate and control possible trends and open opportunities towards proper management and utilization of resources. On the other hand, they can upset the smooth flow of resources, thus impede the process towards the desired goals.
  

c) Networkers to Strengthen Institutional Linkages

Being part of a macro-system, intermediaries can build a network using existing structures and processes. Among networkers, they are able to link and interphase among themselves. Through these linkages, complementary and/or supplementary functions are enhanced. For instance, information flow, technology transfer, resource sharing and exchange can establish strong partnership among concerned institutions. The development of a dynamic and balanced perspective on sustainable development is hastened through these linkages.
  

d) Trainers and Product Enhancers

Intermediaries play a strategic role as trainers and product enhancers using their expertise and the available technologies that, from time to time, are upgraded to effectively respond to the changing trends and demands. Via training designs, tools and methodologies, and product development, this group serves as conduit of information, approaches and perspectives on development that can create the evolution of innovative designs and processes.
  

The Basic Sectors: Users, Producers and Consumers.  In recognizing the specific roles of the Basic Sectors, certain parameters have to be considered towards promoting constructive multilateralism in the interest of their needs, concerns, well-being and advancement. This is required to address an array of sectoral issues affecting them on a daily basis. These issues include: protection of the atmosphere, fresh water and land resources; prevention of deforestation, desertification, and drought; promotion of forest development; sustainable agriculture, and sustainable rural development; conservation of biological diversity; promotion of the safe use of biological diversity; promotion of the safe use of biotechnology; protection of oceans and seas; prevention of the spread of toxic chemicals; and the halting of illegal dumping of hazardous wastes and dangerous products.

Increased participation of basic sectors can be done through provision of access to and management of land and other natural resources; involvement in research and awareness raising activities; promotion and adoption of environmentally sound knowledge, technology, and lifestyles; and development of their full potentials in the promotion of sustainable development.

Cross-cutting issues such as poverty alleviation, consumption patterns, demographic dynamics, economic relations, health conditions and housing, and the integration of environment and development issues in decision-making, also define sectoral roles. Other activities include the promotion of attitudinal change and values reinforcement through education, consciousness- raising, and other means.

a) Advocates of Specific Sectoral Issues and Concerns

Communities of basic sectors must focus on arresting socio-economic and political forces that threaten the very survival of their particular sector. Shifts in thinking and lifestyles, including basic shifts in perceptions and priorities, must be adopted.

Sectoral reforms promoting an integrated approach and which include innovation in procedures, attitudes and behavior should characterize the methods to be used in the advocacy and promotion of sustainable development.
  

b) Organizers and Mobilizers of Community Resources

To build a strong constituency that can promote and adopt sustainable development principles require that concerned sectors are mobilized, organized and strengthened. Capability building and leadership measures are necessary steps to organizing and mobilizing community resources upon which the life of communities may depend. Sectoral-based perspectives must be linked to socio-economic views of sustainable development to find greater meaning in consolidating and harnessing community resources to the optimum.
  

c) Culture-Bearers

Being at the forefront of local realities and conditions, changing lifestyles, values, perspectives and behaviors, concerned sectors are much adept in terms of socio-cultural dynamics. On the premise that basic sector groups have adopted the basic principles of sustainable development, they can serve as culture-bearers, and change agents in their communities.
   

d) Innovators of Indigenous Approaches and Systems

In the same vein, innovative approaches can be established to sustain indigenous knowledge and skills among the sectoral constituencies. Further refinements and creative interventions on existing processes indigenous to communities can widen the array of opportunities that may be available and accessible to the sector group for survival and the conservation of indigenous resources for their own benefit.
   

e) Managers and Controllers of Community Resources

As resource managers and controllers, the basic sectors have direct relation to the physical environment. Their priority is to protect and conserve the ecosystem within which they operate and from where life resources are derived.
  

All too often, however, multiple domestic roles encumber them with a double burden in confronting deteriorating environment in the context of poverty, lack of access to land use, unfavorable economic status, etc. These conditions somehow impede on their basic responsibilities as managers and controllers of community resources. In most cases, this is exacerbated by depleted or ever-diminishing resources at the resource base.

To arrest these situations, strategic interventions or coping mechanisms must be established. Education and training are deeply felt needs. Participatory management of resources must be encouraged in the light of the multi-dimensional roles that basic sectors perform.

Clearly, traditional knowledge and technology are inadequate in meeting new qualitative and quantitative demands on land, water and marine resources. For instance, development and modernization have brought new approaches of resource management, including high-technology inputs.

Specific action-oriented mechanisms have to be introduced to allow them to attain a certain level of capacity to manage these new forms of resources.

Processes for consultations, training and orientations are necessary steps to make the core managers and controllers of community resources central actors in any new development strategies, and to ensure that traditional accountability of the resource base is revived.

3.1.4 Sustainable Development: The Arena for Common Ground

The contribution of basic sectors and intermediary institutions starts from their distinct capacities and their engagements in government, civil society and the market.

Government provides the statutory parameters and regulatory mechanisms for common ground. It also mobilizes resources and organizes different agencies for the implementation of the ecosystem-based action agenda.

Civil society directly enhances the capacities of communities and social formations for meaningful intervention in the various ecosystem processes. Civil society builds on the countless formal and informal relationships that structure the day-to-day activities of Filipinos. But it is also the site for new networks and innovative empowerment approaches.

The business community dynamizes the economic process of the market for the creation of economic wealth.

The government, civil society and business each have their distinct role in Philippine development. Hence, sustainable development needs to be the product of collaborative action that can be built around the various interventions.

 

3.2  INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (IEC)
        PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The pursuit of sustainable development (SD) involves a paradigm shift. Thus, it is imperative that a re-orientation in the fundamental values of the society is undertaken. Responding to this urgent challenge, the PCSD considers comprehensive information, education and communication advocacy as an indispensable part of the efforts to mainstream the principles of PA21 in the various development efforts of all stakeholders in the SD process.

This section presents a plan to create awareness on SD principles and catalyze broad- based operationalization of sustainable development interventions.

3.2.1 Goals

  • Promotion of awareness of living in harmony with nature;
  • Recognition and adoption of SD as the new development paradigm which recognizes the synergy and reconciliation of environmental management and economic development;
  • Broadening and mobilization of an active SD constituency from various sectors and all levels of society; and
  • Institutionalization of environmental management and sustainable development concerns in development structures, policies and programs in all sectors - national and local government instrumentalities, business and industry, civil society, and media organizations, among others.

3.2.2 Specific Objectives

    • To showcase sustainable development as the focus of the national development agenda;
    • To promote, catalyze and effect the systematic integration of sustainable development concepts into national and local planning processes, programming and project implementation, and all levels of education;
    • To create greater awareness and understanding among stakeholders and build their capacities to institutionalize sustainable development principles and concerns in their decision-making processes;
    • To encourage the use of multi-media approaches in the documentation and communication of successful, innovative and indigenous sustainable development strategies and measures; and
    • To mobilize multisectoral support for and participation in sustainable development initiatives.

3.2.3 Communication Strategies

    • Social mobilization - total, active and sustained involvement and participation of all sectors of society to attain sustainable development covering approaches such as: interpersonal communication; use of influential or opinion leaders in the community; assembly meetings; formal and non-formal classes; traditional and folk media; and innovative and indigenous channels (e.g. contests, community film or video showing, etc.).
    • Advocacy - creating an enabling environment through the conduct of policy studies, policy fora, lobbying, ecological labeling, and exchange visits-cum-seminars; and a sensitivity to creative opportunities in social mobilization and advocacy (e.g. crisis situations, visits by "Very Important Persons" to programs/project sites, informal and social gatherings).
    • Social marketing - providing a support strategy for social mobilization using traditional modes of communication involving mass media.
    • Networking - utilizing information technology to effectively reach the intended audiences/sectors through institutional linkages and electronic means.
    • Visioning - inculcating shared values, beliefs and practices on sustainable development through role modeling, values clarification, and environmental scanning.

3.2.4 Audience and Messages

The development of strategic messages require a recognition of the unique requirements of the following key audiences.

Key Audiences (Stakeholders)

Policy makers in the legislative branch (senators and representatives) and the executive branch (cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, directors) - Consciousness/awareness raising on basic sustainable development concerns.
Local Government Units - Awareness raising for Local Government Executives and upgrading of technical capabilities for LGU personnel.
Media (broadcast, print, film) and Advertising - Highlighting the role of media in shaping public perceptions in an age of rapid communications and technology development.
Business and Industry - Understanding economic-environment linkages to resolve the "profit vs. environment" misconception.
Educators - Incorporating SD concerns in curriculum development, teaching, training and instructional materials design and development at all levels of education.
Youth - Harnessing their interests and distinct capacities to move sustainable development forward.
Communities Across Ecosystems (urban, upland and coastal) - Educating the concerned communities, with specific focus on the peculiar characteristics of the ecosystems.
Indigenous Communities - Strengthening traditional practices.
Women - Highlighting the role of women in sustainable development.
Religious/Church Sector - Advocating values and lifestyles for SD.

Strategic Messages

  • Sustainable development is a matter of survival.
  • The only true development is sustainable development.
  • The pursuit of development must be balanced with the protection of the environment.
  • Sustainable development recognizes your efforts over the constituents in your district.
  • It is for the interest of the local governments to support sustainable development programs.
  • Avoiding pollution is not necessarily avoiding profit.
  • Pollution does not pay; Managing pollution pays.
  • Pollution kills business too ( not just humans ).
  • Environmental protection is a corporate responsibility.
  • Sustainable development is profitable for business and industry.
  • Sustainable development begins and ends with you.
  • Sustainable development will secure your future.
  • Stop loading our waters with wastes.
  • Trash is cash when it is managed.
  • The pursuit of development must recognize the rights to self-determination of indigenous communities.
  • Women have key roles to play in sustainable development.
  • The church plays a major role in sustainable development advocacy.

3.2.5 The Implementation Scheme

The efficient implementation of the IEC Plan for Sustainable Development will depend on:

    • the availability of resources, particularly financial, from the PCSD and other sources;
    • a recognition of the PCSD as a coordinating and networking body; and
    • on the active participation of member-institutions and the general public.

Planning, monitoring and evaluation will be undertaken by the PCSD particularly the Sub-Committee on Information and Education, but implementation must be done by the respective government, civil society and business partners.

3.2.6 Priority Agenda for Action

  • Materials development for the popularization of Philippine Agenda 21;
  • Scanning of related IEC initiatives to produce a compendium;
  • Establishing linkages with other IEC providers involved in sustainable development;
  • Conduct of awareness-raising program for national and local government executives;
  • Provision of technical assistance to local government units in the formulation of their respective local Agenda 21;
  • Setting up of a speakers bureau for Philippine Agenda 21 and sustainable development;
  • Creation of a clearing house of information/communications to improve data access to sustainable development;
  • Conduct of a needs assessment survey to determine hardware requirements of the IEC plan; and
  • Integration of environment and sustainable development in various curricula.

 

INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Two-Year Plan

Goal:
At the end of one year, this program aims to create an environment conducive to the pursuit of the Philippine Agenda 21 goals through the proper coordination of well-informed key segments of society.

Objectives:
To inform, educate and coordinate

TARGET ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Government

1) National:
   Executive Branch

  • to manage / take charge of social mobilization which is the generation of total, active and sustained involvement and participation of all sectors of society to the attainment of sustainable development
     
     
     
  • facilitate or to ensure interactive, participatory and multi-directional participation
     
  • advocacy addressed to local government officials to become more SD conscious and more environmentally sensitive. And to initiate and support, appropriate local policies and programs/projects.
  • high impact
    (major) issues or problems
     
  • sectoral/industry updates (including updated inventory of natural resources and the state of the environment)
     
     
  • contribution of the sector/ industry to national development/ Philippines 2000 (using economic indicators)

 

  • Information Feeding

 

 

 

 

 

  • Media Pressure

 

Policy Studies
  • training sessions
  • extension education programs

Policy fora

  • action networks
  • core groups
  • round table discussions

Information and Advertising Campaigns

  • television, radio and print
  • infotech for enhancement of ad quality

 

Commentaries/ Documentaries

  • television, radio and print
  • The need to shift governing values of the bureaucracy towards stewardship, moral integrity, equity and respect for indigenous knowledge systems as well as the means of pursuing it

 

  • The importance and the methods of conserving and regenerating the natural resource foundations of economies
      
  • Ways of encouraging greater self-governance and self-reliance in rural and other disempowered communities
      
  • The means to support the emergence of integrated and ecological approaches to community-based economic system
       
  • Approaches in promoting responsible leadership in all levels of society
      
  • Methods of advocating planned growth of human populations on the basis of equitable economic development

 

2) National:
    Legislative Branch
  • Enactment of policies which integrate SD principles and practices
      
  • Use of Environmental and National Resource Database to improve decision- and policy-making
      
  • Address local government officials' need to become SD conscious thru policy-making

 

  • Programs/projects feasible in their congressional districts
      
  • Socio-economic benefits of environmental programs/ projects to constituents
     
  • Political and economic "benefits" of environmental programs/ projects to the legislators
     
  • Coverage/reach of specific services (e.g. cadastral survey)
  • Information Feeding

 

  • Media Pressure

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Pressure from and Support of POs and NGOs
Policy Studies
  • Legislative investigation on SD

Information & Advertising Campaigns

  • television, radio and print
  • infotech for enhancement of ad quality

Commentaries/ Documentaries

  • television, radio and print

Lobbying

  • initiative to submit SD-oriented bills
  • public demonstrations
  • Ways of encouraging greater self-governance and self-reliance in rural and other disempowered communities
      
  • The means to support the emergence of integrated and ecological approaches to community-based economic system
      
  • Methods of advocating planned growth of human populations on the basis of equitable economic development
      
  • Congress should use its power to formulate laws that will help conserve and regenerate natural resource foundations of the economy
      
  • Congress is tasked to ensure the galvanization of support for sustainable development from key actors of society including corporations, government, universities, religious institutions and media
       
3) Local Government Units
  • Integration of SD concerns into policy-making and planning processes
      
  • Integration of environment and natural resources concerns in local and national plans
      
  • Public participation in planning, implementation, and evaluation of local development programs/projects

 

  • Duties and responsibilities of national agencies vs. LGUs in resource management
      
  • Updated inventory of local natural resources
      
  • State of environment (e.g. water quality, waste management, and pollution) in their locality
     
  • Status and results of land surveys
       
  • Geographic zones and ecozones
  • Information Feeding

 

 

   
 

3.3  FINANCING MEANS AND STRATEGIES

A mixture of market-based instruments and command-and-control measures should be adopted to set into motion financial flows that would help achieve the goals of Philippine Agenda 21 (PA 21). The strategy aims not only to mobilize funds to support PA 21 activities, but more importantly, it aims to help induce changes in production and consumption behavior in favor of sustainable management of the earth's resources.

Market-based instruments  are incentives for companies to increase environmental investments. These can take the form of user charges and pollution charges that will make the costing of production inputs account for negative environmental impact. The proper pricing of goods, in turn, creates profit incentives for investing in technology that uses less of the scarce or depleting resources and eliminates wasteful consumption of goods that have high environmental costs.

Command-and-control measures are various ways that the State forces compliance with environmental laws. They accompany the regulatory function of a government unit, especially for localities where environmental conditions are seriously degraded or under threat of degradation. It is an important financing strategy for sustainable development since it induces companies to invest in environmental technology for purposes of compliance and it can also generate funds from fines and penalties that can go into an environmental fund for PA 21 activities.

PA 21 financing strategies should be premised on the principle that sustainable development generates sustainable financing. Having funds for PA 21 activities is a most desirable outcome of financing strategies. The right mix of financing strategies can also generate non-financial outcomes that are just as important for PA 21 purposes--i.e. government agencies performing more effectively their regulatory functions and the economic sectors internalizing the costs of sustainable use of environmental resources.

Financing is part and parcel of one's basic responsibility for PA 21 activities and investments. The following section suggests financing options in accordance with the nature of PA 21 activities and the institutions responsible for them.

1. Local Government Units

LGUs are considered as having the greatest potential for using PA 21 financing strategies for improving their regulatory functions and for funds mobilization for local environmental management. To set the stage for the application of the strategy, LGUs need to have developed and adopted local integrated area management plans that can define the desired expansion of economic sectors in accordance with the environmental conditions that the local community wants to achieve or maintain. Such plans can be organized by LGU jurisdiction or by ecological zone such as a watershed, metropolitan area or a river basin. Such plans can also be based on the land use plans and their local development plans. The important thing is that the area management plans constitute a consensus that is solid enough to form the most important basis for the regulation of business activity by the LGU.

Financing needs of the LGUs are indicated by the requirements of an effective regulatory mechanism. Normally, such investments should be provided in the LGU operating budget which should ideally be coming from those who are accessing environmental resources (through user charges) and those who enjoy improved environmental conditions (through real property taxes). Extra-budgetary flows under the administration of a local LGU-PO-NGO Council for Sustainable Development can be made possible by the setting up of a local environment fund which can receive proceeds from pollution charges and environmental guarantee funds. In some economically depressed areas, national government may have to provide temporary subsidies for LGUs that have urgent need to establish regulatory systems.

LGUs are also known to engage in economic activities themselves which may and do include site-specific, sustainable development activities. For environmental enterprises such as sanitary landfill and wastewater treatment facilities, LGU credit windows that are being operated by Land Bank, the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Philippine National Bank can be explored.

In the area of protection of natural habitats, the role of government is called for as such investments cannot be supported by the beneficiary community (and perhaps not even by the local government, in which case national government intervention is needed). PA 21 should advocate community-based resource management schemes that provide for alternative sustainable livelihoods along with effective incentives for resource protection or conservation. Presently, such schemes get a lot of technical and financial support form ODA sources.

The role that local governments can play in enforcement of environmental standards-- and corrollarily in financing of PA 21--hinges on the full devolution of environmental management. Capacity building of LGUs is also a concern given the uneven resources of LGUs and technical competence for the administration of environmental protection. These needs can be given consideration in the ongoing review of the Local Government Code which is being spearheaded by the DILG. As an interim measure, DENR can provide the resources needed to address LGU gaps through ODA resources at its disposal or through its internal stock of resources for environmental programs.

2. National Government

The role of national government is in (a) the development of national standards of environmental quality, (b) legal and legislative arrangements for assignment of property rights, (c) information and educational campaigns, and (d) capacity building of LGUs, where needed. These activities are deemed regular activities of central line agencies such as the DENR and, as such, have to be provided the needed resources through the agency budget.

In activities where there is a large deficiency in the DENR's technical capacity to perform said functions of national government, funding needs can be "projectized" and lined up for ODA requests or local funding under the national budget. Presently, research activities leading to more appropriate environmental standards and simplified monitoring systems are high in the investment programming priorities.

Information, education and communication (IEC) programs are likewise important in orienting the public towards an environmentally friendly way of living, as well as production and consumption patterns and practices. Disseminating ideas, experiences and technologies is critical to the adherence of economic sectors to sustainable development principles and practices. IEC initiatives become particularly helpful for LGU regulatory functions and for empowering communities to take an active role in environmental management and protection.

There is also a need to initiate funding strategies for ensuring the continuity of activities undertaken by the PCSD. A national level environment fund under the administration of a multisectoral body (such as the PCSD) so designated or authorized by a legal instrument can be explored. It can be designed as an extra-budgetary fund that can be sourced from endowments from philantrophic organizations and maybe from a small share of pollution fines and penalties collected by regulatory agencies and LGUs. A joint facility may realize the potentials of collaborative private (featuring transparency and efficiency) and public ( wide coverage and legal basis) resource mobilization.

Inasmuch as national government administers investment incentives, PA 21 may be considered for inclusion in the Investment Priorities Plan in order that investments in environment- friendly equipment may be made eligible for fiscal incentives such as relaxation of import duties. This may require the establishment of a "clean-and-safe-technology accreditation system" spearheaded by the academe and/or research institutions (S&T Sector).

3. Economic Sectors

Proponents of public and private investment ventures are primarily responsible for making the needed investments for environmental rehabilitation and/or mitigation in compliance with environmental standards. Incorporating such investments in a public sector project can be automatically ensured through government's project appraisal procedures. In the private sector, compliance is deemed to be a function of available business incentives for making such investments in environmental technologies.

Financing of PA 21 will have to rely heavily on the economic sector's ability and willingness to incorporate sustainable development principles in the design of their production systems. Market-based instruments working in tandem with the application of good and realistic environmental standards through credible enforcement of regulations and sanctions could encourage companies to make needed investments in abatement equipment. Credit resources for such investments are coming up as the financial sector realizes the mandatory nature of compliance and the business risk associated with non-compliance by their client companies. The DBP leads other financial institutions in this regard with the recent opening of its Environmental Infrastructure Support

Program which is exclusively dedicated to the financing needs of specific industries for environmental investments.

Mechanisms for mobilizing funds fiom the private sector to go to a local or national environment fund have been discussed in earlier sections. Companies that support philantrophic activities can be tapped by PA 21 to channel an increasing share for sustainable development initiatives under such an environment fund. Pollution charges and other forms of fines and penalties can be collected from the economic sectors but should avoid a situation where such payments are set so low that they turn into a license to pollute some more. The economic sectors are also expected to carry most of the financial burden for environmental guarantee funds which are part of conditions for obtaining an environmental clearance from government and from the host community. With pooled resources from any or all of these mechanisms, resources can be made available for environmental monitoring and compensation of environmental damage as well as for productive investments, e.g. retrofitting industries with clean and safe technologies.

 

3.4   TOWARDS A LOCAL ACTION AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

A participatory approach, involving various multi- stakeholders at the national and local levels, was adopted in the formulation of the Philippine Agenda (PA) 21. Consultations were held at the regional level to identify issues and develop strategies and action agenda towards sustainable development. These consultations, which involved government, civil society and other major groups, strengthened the foundation for the operationalization of the national action agenda for sustainable development.

This section contains the regional action agenda for each region; and the emerging mechanism for localizing Agenda 21.

3.4.1  Proposed Regional Action Agenda

While the consultation process in the region focused mainly on the national action agenda, participants also embarked on the formulation of their respective regional action agenda. This not only speaks of their commitment to make the national action agenda an operational reality, but more importantly, in ensuring that sustainable development takes root in their respective localities. The regional action agenda contained in the matrices that will follow articulates the emerging issues and concerns in the various regions and can serve as a first step in translating further the national action agenda into local action agenda for each region, province, city, and municipality. These are by no means a complete and comprehensive action agenda for each region. It is, however, a first attempt towards localizing PA 21 and can serve as a basis in firming up a more thorough and comprehensive "Local Agenda 21" in the near future.

3.4.2 Mechanism for Localizing the PA 21

The process of localizing the PA 21 is a vital element in mainstreaming the action agenda at the local level. In principle, localization shall seek to emulate the following key concepts that were adopted in the formulation of the PA 21, namely: integration, multi-stakeholdership and consensus building, and operationalization. It will also respect distinct capacities and needs of each locality.

Structure.   In the process of localizing, there is a need for a structure that will provide the mechanism for ensuring coordination and cooperation among the various actors. The specific kind of structure that will be adopted shall, however, be left to the local levels. At best, two possible options were identified, as follows:

1) tap existing structures at the local level such as the Regional Development Council at the regional level, the Provincial Development Council at the provincial level, and the Municipal Development Council at the municipal level. Other structural mechanisms already in place in the province, city, municipal, and barangay level can also be utilized as potential instruments in executing the various localized courses of action; and

2) create a separate structure which is a mirror-image of the PCSD. For this purpose, existing regional councils for sustainable development and local councils for sustainable development such as the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development and Davao Council for Sustainable Development can be used as models.

Responsibilities.   The local structure for PA 21 implementation could have the following major tasks, among others:

a. Integration of SD concerns in the formulation of the Master Development Plan

The principal task of the local "council" is the formulation of specific local courses of action using sustainable development as the reference framework. This requires building up the capabilities of communities to enable them to translate the sustainable development agenda into specific programs and projects, in line with the strategies espoused in the PA 21 document. A series of reviews may be undertaken to firm up the list of actionable measures.

b. Resource Mobilization

Implementation of the SD strategy calls for a mechanism that will hasten the flow of financial resources to support activities at the local levels, particularly those that have less access to the financial system. In this respect, the "council" may explore innovative and potent financing mechanisms that will directly benefit the local stakeholders. The "council" could also venture into attracting private capital to invest in enterprises which incorporate SD.

c. Capability Building

The success of implementing the various action agenda substantially lies on the capability of the local actors to undertake and monitor their respective programs and projects. The local "council" should promote the provision of financial and technical assistance in areas such as community-based resource management, integrated area/island development planning, among others. In addition, training should be provided to strengthen the capability of the local people on the use of Geographic Information System, Environmental Impact Assessment, and others as planning tools in the decision-making process. Equally important is the need for the communities to slowly develop capacities that will facilitate the evolution of PA 21 in their values, tradition and practices.

d. Information, Education and Communication

The first logical step to take in the process of localization is to inform and educate the public on the PA 21. This entails the following: a) translating the PA 21 into the local dialects; b) formulation and implementation of a communication plan; and c) improved information and communication systems and networking at the local levels to forge collaboration among sectors and to share successes/breakthroughs.

e. Monitoring/Evaluation and Reporting

A large responsibility for following up on the Rio commitments rests with the capability of the local "councils" to monitor and report developments to the PCSD. This calls for the installation of an appropriate machinery at the local levels. The monitoring and reporting activities involve the provision and use of information that will enable the PCSD to assess progress and to take timely decisions to ensure progress. Effective monitoring and early reporting will aid the PCSD in submitting progress reports to the UN and other appropriate bodies. Monitoring should also take into account an assessment of the implementation of existing legal instruments at the national and local levels and the formulation and enactment of new laws, as necessary.

f. Linkaging and Networking

Linkages with the international, national and local prime movers of SD need to be forged and harnessed to establish cooperation among partners. This will promote sharing of resources, information and technologies, among others, to build an enabling environment for SD.

 

3.5  MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT

To effectively assess the implementation of Philippine Agenda 21, a comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and reporting system needs to be established to guide all stakeholders to meaningfully participate in the process of operationalizing sustainable development. Such a system will also help institute broad-based accountabilities and responsibility for sustainable development among members of society.

This system may include the following elements:

    • A system to coordinate and evaluate the extent to which the Philippine Agenda 21 has been adopted and implemented by all stakeholders.
    • A system to coordinate, support and enhance existing national and local multisectoral as well as sectoral monitoring, evaluation and information exchange on the implementation of initiatives related to Philippine Agenda 21.
    • A system that is able to identify, among others:
a. Policies, plans, programs and institutional structures and processes that have been rectified, enhanced and/or developed based on Philippine Agenda 21;
 
b. Institutional and programmatic issues related to the adoption of the Agenda, corresponding resolutions passed as well as processes/mechanisms undertaken to resolve such issues; and
 
c. Capacity and capability building initiatives, including localization and institutional development programmes, undertaken to facilitate adoption and implementation of the Agenda.
 

 

 

 

 

 

    • A system for reporting, feedbacking and utilizing the monitoring and evaluation results on PA21 for international, national and local stakeholder communities, to include the following:
a. National and local coordinating strategies, mechanisms and tools/instruments (including a comprehensive set of sustainable development indicators and the development of a sustainable development database) for reporting the monitoring and evaluation results;
 
b. National and local feedback schemes for information on actions emanating or resulting from the use of such reports; and
 
c. Information dissemination support plan for mass consumption of monitoring and evaluation results through multi-media schemes.
 

 

 

 

 

 


 

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