Mayors join UN disaster resilience campaign

MANILA, Philippines –  As climate negotiations wrap up in Cancun, Mexico, government officials from vulnerable islands in the Philippines are taking action to reduce the damaging effects of climate change on their communities by joining the world disaster reduction campaign of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

In a ceremony on the beaches of the Camotes Islands in the province of Cebu, four local mayors have signed up to the “Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready” campaign, bringing the number of mayors committed to the two-year international campaign to 150.

The mayors include Aly Arquillano of San Francisco; Luciano Rama Jr. of Poro; Erwin Yu of Tudela; and Jesus Fernandez Jr. of Pilar.

By joining the campaign, the mayors have committed to joining a number of activities, including relocating communities and key infrastructure that are prone to storm surges, regular clean-up drives along coastal areas, tree planting, establishment of early warning systems, strengthening the Camotes Islands emergency response teams, developing community-based ecotourism and livelihood initiatives, and training teachers and youth organizations on climate change and disaster risk reduction.

“While the world negotiates on what to do with climate change in Mexico, we local officials are already facing the effects of the changing weather patterns,” said Arquillano. “Climate change is not something abstract for us; it is real. It is about the threats to our shorelines, our corals, our forests and our towns. We are taking action because it is the right thing to do for our people. We are the first line of defense against climate change.” 

The Camotes Islands are facing increasing threats to its coastal mangrove forests, seagrass and corals as a result of increasing storm surges, sea-level rise, coral bleaching, overfishing and coastal development. To combat these threats, the local government, in partnership with Plan Philippines, is promoting a climate risk management project in the island group that incorporates disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation practices through better governance, knowledge management, reduction of underlying risks and small-scale mitigation activities. The project focuses on children.

“It is encouraging to see proactive action by the local governments in the Camotes Islands,” said Baltz Tribunalo, program advisor for disaster risk reduction at Plan Philippines.

“We are very proud to be a partner supporting their activities on child-centered disaster resilience building, where children participate in projects, including in disaster and climate risk assessments, planning and implementation,” she stressed.