QC earns recognition for climate, disaster preparedness

Quezon City was awarded with the Frontline Protection Award at the Planet Aqua City Awards held at Venice Climate Week in Venice, Italy in partnership with C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

In a statement, Mayor Joy Belmonte expressed that the recognition was a testament to their commitment to establishing a community that was better equipped to handle any potential effects of annual typhoons in the country.

Belmonte further stated that the city’s local government along with its partnered government agencies were inclined to maintain a data-driven approach particularly with the intensifying climate around the world.

“This award reflects the hard work of the city government and our partners in developing innovative solutions that place the safety and welfare of our people at the center of climate action,” she said.

The particular program of QC that received praise from the award-giving body was its IRISE UP project that serves as a climate and disaster resilience platform that offers real-time updates and artificial intelligence-based forecasting to protect citizens.

IRISE UP was said to have been built through the Quezon City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (QCDRRMO) in order to provide data on what areas out of the 142 barangays in the city would be heavily affected by weather systems.

Such insight would then be handed over to concerned authorities for them to properly plan measures that could mitigate the damage a natural disaster may have.

In spite of its relatively high elevation compared to different cities in Metro Manila, Quezon City has remained one of the flood-prone cities in the country because of valleys and catchment basins spread throughout the city.