LGU summit on climate change in Davao

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City Hall of Davao

A March 14, 2011 press release by the National Economic and Development Authority

The Mindanao leg of the Local Government Units (LGU) Summit on Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in the Philippines for Municipal LGUs will be held in Davao on March 15-17, 2011.

President Benigno S. Aquino III has been invited to keynote the summit that aims to increase local awareness on and commitment to CCA by bringing together local government officials, scientists, and other development partners to share practical information on CCA.

CCA refers to the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli, thus reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to the effects of the changing climate.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) initiated the activity in partnership with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Provincial Government of Albay, and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

Similar with two previous legs of the Summit in Albay and Iloilo, the upcoming Summit will present tools on how local government units (LGUs) can assess their communities’ vulnerability, as well as successful practices of CCA at the local level.

Working group sessions will specifically focus on three areas: (a) measuring the LGUs’ vulnerability to climate change; (b) integrating disaster risk reduction and CCA in local development planning and decision; and (c) CCA practices at the local level.

LGU officials are also expected to present to President Aquino the Manifesto of Commitment and Pledge of Support to CCA during the said Summit.

The Manifesto is seen to enjoin LGUs in preparing their communities to be more resilient and adaptive, incorporating vulnerability assessment and CCA measures as part of their development planning process, and implementing CCA measures to attain the MDGs.

The Summit is being supported by the MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F) 1656 Joint Programme (JP) on “Strengthening the Philippines’ Institutional Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change.” With NEDA as the focal agency, the JP is funded by the Spanish Government and supported by the United Nations.