Something Personal At the World stage
Amid the increasing risks of a warming world and a changing climate emerges a woman development leader from the Philippines.
She is a game-changer for Asia with a compelling vision of a safer and greener world for all.
Senator Loren Legarda advocates for quality human living harmonious with nature by seeking the path for green growth and sustainable development for nations, and challenging world leaders to save our home planet and preserve humankind now.
Environmental Champion
As the Philippine's foremost advocate of green development, Senator Loren Legarda worked for the enactment of laws on environmental governance like the Clean Air Act, the Solid Waste Management Act, the Climate Change Act and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act.
As the chairwoman of the Climate Change Oversight Committee of the Senate, Loren ensures that climate change, including adaptation and disaster risk reduction, is addressed as a national priority and considered in policy making and development planning.
Beyond the parliament, Loren leads nationwide tree-planting campaigns with Luntiang Pilipinas and promotes public awareness on the state of global climate change and the increasing risks it brings to communities.
To explain the phenomenon of climate change and to draw individual and sectoral response, she made the films 'Rains in Summer’ (Ulan sa Tag-araw), "Ligtas-Likas," ''Downpour' (Buhos), and 'Now is the Time’.
Global Thinker
The world recognizes the inspiring leadership of Loren in the global campaign for good environmental governance. In the year 2000, the World Economic Forum held in Davos named her as one of the Global Leaders for Tomorrow.
Similarly, the United Nations has also acknowledged Senator Loren Legarda twice. In the year 2001, the United Nations Environment Programme conferred on her the title of UNEP Laureate and included her name in the Global 500 Roll of Honor.
In 2008, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction appointed her as its Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaption for Asia and the Pacific. Along with her appointment as regional champion is the mission to convey an important message to world leaders.
Loren met with heads of state and spoke at international parliamentary summits. She debated with global thinkers and called for action along with women leaders of the world.
A couple of months before her appointment as champion, in a seeming test of her parliamentary leadership, Senator Loren Legarda was asked by UNISDR to steer a mini-global meeting of parliamentarians in Manila on the agenda of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Leading parliamentarians from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America came to the meeting in October 2008.
Through her able leadership, Loren successfully steered the meeting into a consensus dubbed as the Manila Call for Action by Parliamentarians which called on parliamentarians of the world to make disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation a national priority and an key consideration in development planning.
In a few weeks, more parliamentarians from all over the world hailed the Manila Call for Action and offered to champion the cause. The Inter-Parliamentary Union immediately discussed the Call in its meetings, while international parliamentary networks, including that on the World Bank, resounded the clarion call from Manila.
The enactment of the Climate Change Act of 2009 now represents the Philippine response to the Manila Call for Action and gives the Congress pride as the law is considered by the UNISDR and the Inter-Parliamentary Union as a model for other nations.
