Makati in the Philippines is a climate resilient city, says World Bank

Inquirer.net (Philippines): For its green initiatives like the electric jeepney, the city of Makati was recently cited by the World Bank as one of the Climate Resilient Cities in the East Asia and Pacific region. Makati was commended alongside the cities of Hanoi, Jakarta, Indonesia, Milan, New York, Tokyo, and London in the Climate Resilient Cities 2008 primer by the World Bank.

Mayor Jejomar Binay left for Washington Monday to speak on the city government's climate change and disaster reduction policies in Wednesday's workshop on "The World Bank's Expanding Role in Disaster Risk Reduction." "It is an honor to have Makati chosen as a city at the forefront of sustainable development. It is twice the honor to be representing the country as we formulate means to address the effects of climate change," Binay said in a statement.

Navotas City, Dagupan City in Pangasinan, and Albay province were also included in the book for their sound practices on flood control. "Climate change has become one of the defining challenges of policymakers, industry and civil society in this century, and is a development, investment, economic and social issue which affects most sectors," said Keshav Virma, sector director of the urban, water and disaster management unit of WB East Asia and the Pacific region, in the primer.

…Aside from the energy-efficient jeep now plying villages in Makati, the city government also boasted of its solid waste management program and urban-greening project. The Makati City Disaster Coordinating Council and the Makati City Environmental Protection Council were also created to address the need for disaster risk reduction programs and to achieve sustainable development…..

An intersection in Makati City, shot by Mike Gonzalez (TheCoffee), Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2