Local governments in the Philippines urged to invest in climate change adaptation

Philippine Information Agency: An officer of the Climate Change Commission urged the local government chief executives to include climate change and seawater level-rise vulnerability to their development plans.

Speaking during the Regional Summit for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for Local Chief Executives in the Bulwagan Hall at the provincial capitol of Davao del Norte, Mario Rangasa, community adaptation officer of the Climate Change Commission said seawater level rise is real and poses a threat to the survival of many communities in the country.

Rangasa chairs the Local Climate Change Adaptation for Development, Inc. based in Legazpi City.  He said integration of disaster management and climate change adaptation to the development plan is important so that affected communities can cope and come up with adjustments to change of environment brought about by a natural catastrophe.  “The bottom line here is the safety of the residents in the community,” Rangasa said.

He also said that local government units must take the risk reduction management and adaptation to climate change as investment of scientific tools, human resources and equipment so that decision-making on mitigation, response and adaptation by the chief executives will be anchored on scientific data.

Rangasa said it is the moral responsibility of the local government units to invest on disaster risk and vulnerability reduction.  “Let’s also work closely with our disaster agencies like the Office of Civil Defense, Phivolcs and the PAGASA to give ample advisories on preparation, mitigation, response and adaptability measures to the people,” he said....

Near the barangay of Tigayon, in Aklan, Philippines, shot by Ree Dexter, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr,  under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license