‘Government should include MSMEs in its climate change agenda’

“Slow onset effects, such as rising seas, ocean acidification and the steady decline or increase of rainfall across decades, take place without the drama of calamities and body counts. But they are likely to bring the economy to its knees in the long run if we don’t act fast,” Constantino told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview on his views about the just concluded United Nations 26th Conference of the Parties conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

On the macroeconomic level, Constantino said resilience must be put on top of planning and must be urgently integrated into long-term development strategies.

He lamented that the economy is limited in using GDP as the sole yardstick of progress. Just like a lot of countries around the world, the Philippine economy has shown itself to be incapable of responding to non-financial external shocks, he said.

Moreover, he urged the Philippine scientific community to draw out plans to avoid future disruptions to the supply chain and enable the MSMEs to continue their operations despite the pandemic.

“Certainly this will not be the last pandemic we will encounter and in addition to pandemics more climate impacts should be anticipated,” he said.

Moreover, he urged the Philippine scientific community to draw out plans to avoid future disruptions to the supply chain and enable the MSMEs to continue their operations despite the pandemic.

“Certainly this will not be the last pandemic we will encounter and in addition to pandemics more climate impacts should be anticipated,” he said.

Constantino urged national agencies to cascade scientific climate research outcomes and analysis to provincial planners and local government units who can help craft strategies that channel MSME-tailored interventions.

Constantino said the MSMEs must also be included in the climate-change agenda because they are a vital cog in the economy, making up over 99 percent of the registered businesses in the Philippines.

Moreover, MSMEs also contributed close to 36 percent of the country’s 2018 GDP, generating 5.7 million jobs, or 63.2 percent of the year’s total employment.

“This needs to change, and we need to steadily measure our ability to enhance the country’s protection against the impacts of the climate crisis while increasing productivity despite the constraints of climate-change by its positive impacts on MSMEs,” Constantino said in an earlier conference.

Constantino lamented that the country is giving little opportunity to MSMEs develop low-carbon development products and services for the sector.

He said supporting MSMEs to develop green products will result in boosting the growth of the private sector, cooperatives and households.

Moreover, he added that retooling of labor in the MSME sector will benefit the workers as more job opportunities will be available to them.

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