OCCES want bill passed

THE Ofice of Climate Change and Environment Sustainability (OCCES) will like to see the country’s Climate Change Bill passed in Parliament preferably before the global meet in Copenhagen in December.
OCCES executive manager for policy, Karl Sopol, said this during a lecture he presented for reporters at a marine conservation seminar yesterday.
Presently, the proposed legislation, as a draft, was being circulated to relevant stakeholders for their input and comments to ensure that all issues relating to local effects of climate change were adequately taken into account and were within the proposed legislative framework.
“This is a complex process and we want to ensure it comes out to fully serve the best interests of the people of PNG in the long term,” he said.
Mr Sopol,  however, said  despite this, it was not necessary for the act to be passed before the meet as a underlying guide for the act for PNG climate change policy was already in place and would be sufficient at the summit in Denmark.
Once the legislation was passed, it would have to get the endorsement of the United Nation Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCC)
He said the proposed legislation encompassed participation, ownership, partnership and cooperation
The OCCES has in place key focus areas of mitigation which included:
*Achieve 50% green house gas reductions by 2020 and 100% by 2050;
* Reduce emissions from across sectors such as in energy, transport, agriculture; forestry, mining, petroleum and waste; and
* Promote and implement reduction of emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) and ensure resource owners and stakeholders fully participate and benefit from REDD initiatives.