Disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation teams firm up roles in the Philippines

Not sure what to make of all the adaptation activity underway in the Philippines, where it appears that numerous towns and regions are busily putting together local adaptation plans and working to integrate them into nationwide planning. It certainly looks more impressive than what happens in the United States, where planners can only get approval for projects that avoid any mention of climate change. From Thelma C. Bicarme and Jeca Umoquit in the Philippine Information Agency: To effectively integrate, ensure its success as well as implement an effective disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (DRR/CCA) in local development planning, regional teams were recently convened to firm up respective roles and responsibilities.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), as the lead coordinator for the project, briefed the teams on the DRR/CCA Integration in local planning through the procedures on Disaster Risk Assessment (DRA) which involves hazard characterization, frequency analysis, consequence analysis, risk estimation and risk evaluation.

NEDA director Milagros Rimando said after the DRA, the identified sectoral impacts will be incorporated in the planning of core elements for the formulation of enhanced DRR/CCA Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plans (PDPFPs).

Rimando added that a briefing of the local and provincial governments regarding the project and its advocacies was already conducted and partnerships with the regional line agencies (RLAs) and local government units (LGUs) have also been forged....