Toward a resilient Philippines: Empowering communities for disaster preparedness

Just last week, the Philippines faced yet another super typhoon, “Carina” (international name: “Gaemi”). Although it did not make landfall, “Carina” intensified the southwest monsoon, or habagat, bringing dangerously heavy rains to most parts of Luzon. As a result, floods that reached the second floor of standard Philippine houses ensued. Waterways overflowed and roads got submerged that put the lives and livelihoods of our fellow Filipinos in danger. “Carina,” along with previous weather events, shows how powerful and devastating these disasters can be. This underscores the urgent need to strengthen our resilience to disasters and address climate change.

Coupled with years of ecosystem mismanagement and poor implementation of environmental policies, disasters have presented the country with compounding and complicating problems. Due to the lack of accountability and ineffective protection of our resources, Philippine ecosystems continue to suffer from degradation. This, in turn, costs us many of our forests, wetlands, mountains and marine resources — our nature-based solutions for fighting climate change.

Disaster events are heavily influenced by climate change. The rise in greenhouse gas emissions led to global warming, which consequently causes changes in weather and climate patterns. These changes often manifest as more intense natural hazards that affect our lives, agriculture, water resources and ecosystems.

The impacts of living in a world where the temperature is 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than in preindustrial times are very evident. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts, flooding, hurricanes and wildfires, continue to rise as global temperatures fail to decrease. With no concrete action to reduce the impacts of climate change, the world as we know it is in danger of facing even more catastrophic disasters.

According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 7,348 disaster events were recorded worldwide over the past 20 years. These disasters have claimed over 1.23 million lives and greatly affected more than 4 billion people — half of the world’s population. Additionally, these disasters have resulted in a total of US$2.97 trillion in economic losses worldwide.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projects that if climate change is addressed as business as usual, its devastating impacts will further worsen. Changes in the water cycle, rainfall patterns, sea level and global warming will become pronounced, amplifying most, if not all, climate change impacts. Given the geographic and economic vulnerabilities of our country, we stand to suffer even greater loss and damage if current climate trends continue.

Between 2011 and 2021, the Philippines incurred a total of P673.30 billion worth of losses and damage due to tropical cyclones alone. This is expected to rise in the near future — equivalent to 7.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product by 2030 and 13 percent by 2050 — unless climate change is addressed aggressively and intensively. Unfortunately, despite ongoing efforts to respond to climate change, current science available suggests that immediate improvement is yet to be felt. To make things worse, projections indicate that we may not see any improvement soon.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration asserts that climate change trends in the country will get worse, with mean temperatures expected to rise by 1.8 degrees Celsius to 2.2 degrees Celsius by 2050. And in turn, wet seasons in the country will become wetter and dry seasons will become drier, resulting in longer and more severe floods and droughts. Likewise, hot temperatures that exceed 35 degrees Celsius will become the norm in the immediate future. In alignment with the 2022 World Risk Index Report, these projections underscore the need for the country to take proactive action against climate change, as it is one of the most vulnerable countries to its impacts.

As part of our efforts to help the nation face and cope with the disastrous impacts of climate change, several legislative and strategic measures have been put in place, including the National Climate Change Action Plan (NccAP), National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan, Philippine Development Plan, and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Philippines submitted its first NAP, the third in ASEAN and 56th in the world to have a NAP. These national base documents provide roadmaps for sustainable development while taking into consideration the special vulnerability of the Philippines to climate and disaster risks. The NAP, in particular, aims to strengthen national resilience by integrating adaptation measures into national and local development policies and strategies. Meanwhile, the NCCAP outlines the country’s strategy to address climate change through adaptation and mitigation measures.

In support of these plans, the country is also actively strengthening its climate finance capacities through various means. Internationally, the Philippines accesses the Green Climate Fund, a global fund that aims to support the climate action efforts of developing countries. Locally, the nation utilizes the People’s Survival Fund, which provides financing for climate adaptation programs. The country also prioritizes building steady partnerships with both international and local private entities, leveraging private sector investment to support public initiatives aimed at enhancing climate resilience and promoting sustainable development.

While the country is already equipped with plans, realizing these plans is another thing. There’s still much to be done, but with climate change-induced disasters continuously affecting the Philippines, building the capacity of Filipino communities to withstand and recover from these disasters is crucial. At the same time, however, we cannot afford to neglect development. Therefore, there is a need to balance sustainable development with disaster risk reduction to ensure that progress does not come at the expense of resilience. This endeavor requires the active participation of all sectors, particularly our communities, as they are on the frontlines of both climate action and disaster response.

Communities, with their local knowledge, are best positioned to identify risks, vulnerabilities, and the most effective adaptive measures for their localities. Harnessing this knowledge can greatly enhance the quality of their Local Climate Change Action Plans, Barangay Risk Reduction and Management Plans, and Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plans, thereby boosting their adaptive capacities.

Communities are also at the center of ecosystem-based adaptation and sustainable living. As locals, they have the most right to be involved in protecting, monitoring and revitalizing nature-based solutions found in their areas, such as forests, mangroves, watersheds, wetlands and marine bodies. They also have the authority to engage in climate-resilient and sustainable economic activities, like green agriculture, aquaculture and other livelihood practices, moving away from carbon-intensive livelihood activities. Most importantly, community members serve as first responders to disaster events, making them crucial in building the nation’s disaster and climate resilience.

The Philippines is highly susceptible to climate change-induced disasters, frequently experiencing tropical cyclones, flooding, and other extreme weather events. This underscores the urgent need to capacitate communities and equip them with the resources necessary to help them overcome the worsening impacts of climate change through all means possible. Recognizing and empowering our communities’ roles in disaster risk reduction and climate action is essential if we want to build a climate- and disaster-resilient Philippines.