Frontlines of climate impacts, forefront of action
by Isabella Ann Mendoza ICSC’s climate policy team, in partnership with CORDAID, has been working closely with the municipalities of Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Santa Fe, Bantayan Island, Cebu; and Coron, Palawan to help develop their local plans in response to the adverse impacts of climate change. The biggest challenge faced by local government units (LGUs) is establishing definitive connections between our climate vulnerabilities and making sure their future actions are able to directly address it. This is why LGUs are required to come up with a Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) in order to incorporate adaptation and mitigation [...]
ICSC: Climate change to worsen water security risk
MANILA, Updated 14 March 2019 – As residents in areas of Metro Manila grapple with water scarcity issues for several days, a climate and energy policy group cautioned that climate change would only exacerbate existing risks and development issues. Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the Manila-based Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, commented: “As a climate policy institute, we are often the first to convey caution in prematurely attributing adverse economic, ecological or social outcomes to climate change. Many times as well, climate change merely amplifies the impacts of wrong development policies to begin with. “Prematurely assigning blame [...]
Lost/Found in Translation
Isabella Ann Mendoza Editor’s Note: ICSC in cooperation with the Climate Change Commission, Visayas State University’s Institute for Strategic Research and Development Studies, and Action for Economic Reforms, organized a forum entitled “Shifting Financial Flows to Low Carbon Development in Eastern Visayas” in Tacloban City from 7-8 March 2019. Isabella Ann Mendoza, an ICSC climate policy analyst, writes about the forum below. There was a massive download and exchange of knowledge and information yesterday in Tacloban City during the first day of the “Shifting Financial Flows to Low Carbon Development in Eastern Visayas” forum. The wealth of knowledge came from [...]
Strong Demand for Readiness
By Chien Huan Li To assume an entire country is composed of homogeneous individuals is a common mistake. Individuals and communities face different challenges because of the complex diversity of natural and social environments they have been born into or grown up in. This much was evident when we began our journey in Coron, Palawan in order to support local communities seeking to advance local development while alleviating the many and growing vulnerabilities inherent in their social and ecological setting. Behind the Astonishing Beauty of Coron On the plane to Coron, the breath-taking scenery was evident from the aircraft’s [...]
Speeches in APAN
By Chien Huan Li The 6th Asia Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum was held last Oct. 17-19 at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters in Manila. What attracted me most about the event was not only the chance to visit the ADB, but the opportunity to participate in the flagship activity of the Asian Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN). Established since 1966, ADB is one of the most influential multilateral institutions supporting development initiatives in Asia and the Pacific. Joining APAN’s activities from behind the ADB’s high walls were representatives from over 80 countries. Before we arriving at the conference rooms [...]