In an interview with Radyo Pilipinas, a station owned and operated by the Philippine Broadcasting Service, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) incoming executive director Angelo Kairos Dela Cruz talked about the work of ICSC in advancing fair climate policy and low carbon development in local, national, and international arenas last February 10, 2023.

“Hindi natin kailangan pumili kung magbabawas ba tayo ng carbon emissions – yung tinatawag na mitigation – o kung kailangan ba  nating mag-adapt sa climate change. We can do both, sa pamamagitan ng better, resilient development para sa bansa. (We do not need to choose if we will mitigate carbon emissions or if we will adapt to climate change. We can do both through better, resilient development for the Philippines),” Dela Cruz said.

He added, “Kailangan ang anchor natin ay [sustainable] development, dahil marami tayong opportunities na pwedeng i-harness kahit na may climate change impacts tayong hinaharap (Our anchor needs to be [sustainable] development, because we have many opportunities to harness, even if we have climate change impacts to face).”

Dela Cruz also stressed that education on climate change should be more deliberate, to help the public understand better that everyone has a role to play in addressing the climate crisis. He also emphasized the importance of climate and disaster risk finance and insurance (CDRFI), which can help protect Filipinos from the impacts of climate change.

“Ang climate change, nandito na ‘yan, it’s here and it’s here to stay. Ang magagawa natin bilang isang bansa ay patuloy na subukang mag-develop better, mas maganda at mas sustainable na development pathways ang kailangan nating tahakin (Climate change is here and it’s here to stay. What we can do as a country is to develop better – we need to go through better and more sustainable development pathways),” said Dela Cruz.

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