At the College of Forestry of Cotabato State University, Climate Change Commission (CCC) vice chairperson and executive director Robert E.A. Borje plants a malugay (Pometia pinnata) seedling into the ground in the presence of CSU officials on 23 December. The activity is part of a collaborative greening and resilience-building activity on campus.
The hardwood, which can grow up to 40 meters tall and used for making furniture, flooring and boatbuilding, also symbolizes the strong partnership forged by CCC with state universities and colleges (SUCs) in localizing the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and building capacities for transformative climate action.
“Every tree planted and grown is a step towards renewing its value for our communities,” Borje during his meeting with CSU president Dr. Sema G. Dilna and his team. “We thank the CotSU College of Forestry for choosing this species and for working with us to ensure these trees — and our partnership — grow strong.”
Borje stressed that the CCC will continue to engage stakeholders in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s vision of a climate resilient Philippines.
“We are turning communities into champions for climate,” he said.
Borje also met with officials from the Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU) to advance convergence on climate adaptation, research and capacity building.
In a meeting with SKSU president Dr. Samson L. Molao and his team, he discussed leveraging the university’s critical role as an academic and research hub to build local climate capacities. The dialogue emphasized SKSU’s potential in driving evidence-based climate action in the region, with sustained support from Senator Loren Legarda, a long-time advocate for empowering SUCs.
SUCs are positioned to support the protection and rehabilitation of biodiversity across habitats and ecosystems, as well as enabling and empowering communities to lead ecological management. This includes helping establish collaborative research partnerships between local communities, researchers and environmental organizations to provide access to scientific expertise, enabling ecological assessment and better-informed decisions at a local level to improve the resiliency of ecosystems.
Developed under the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the NAP aims to steadily reduce climate-related loss and damage and to build the country’s adaptive capacity toward transformative resilience and sustainable economic development by 2050.
The NAP serves as a national instrument for pursuing efforts at all levels of governance to address climate risk and reduce the country’s vulnerability to climate change impacts by bolstering adaptive capacity, fostering resilience, and integrating adaptation into relevant policies and programs. It specifically identifies SUCs as supporting agencies in several key adaptation strategies, recognizing their critical role in translating national policy into local, on-the-ground action.