DILG spearheads Climate Change Adaptation summit for LCEs, NGOs

By MYLES COLASITO
January 21, 2011

TACLOBAN CITY  –  The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), in partnership with local and foreign experts on climate change adaptation, conferred with local officials and representatives from concerned sectors nationwide  on January 18, 2011 to discuss ways and means in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.

DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said some 200 officials from “calamity-prone” local government units (LGUs), and representatives from the academe and other stakeholders took part in the two-day summit on climate change adaptation held at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City.

“The participants were briefed and taught during the conference on how they can enhance their capabilities on alleviating the adverse effects of climate change while sustaining their local economic development efforts,” the DILG chief said.

During the conference, all participants identified, studied and documented existing practices, tools and programs of local and international institutions on climate change adaptation focused on securing economic development.

Also tackled were topics such as climate change adaptation strategy based on Philippine experience, and effective local economic development strategies for climate change challenges and its economic and fiscal issues.

With the theme “Climate Change Adaptation for Local Economic Development (CCA4LED),” the conference was spearheaded by the DILG through its Local Government Academy in cooperation with the Local Government Training and Research Institute Network (LOGOTRI) of Asia-Pacific and the Philippines, Asia-Pacific UN partners, Governments of Canada and Spain and the Local Government Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED).

Aside from the sharing of knowledge and practices on climate change resiliency, the participants were also thought on the subject of local economic development principles and processes on agriculture, fisheries, tourism, food security, water resources and business development.

According to studies, the Asia Pacific Region, which has 60 percent of the world’s population and economic activities and is largely focused on coastal areas, agriculture and eco-tourism, is highly-vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

For its part, the Philippines has been identified as among the global disaster hotspots and even ranks eight among countries most exposed to multiple hazards.