Multi-sectoral group boosts Palawan climate resilience

MANILA, Philippines - Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc. (PSFI), the social development arm of Shell Companies in the Philippines, recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Weather Philippines Foundation (WPF) for the expansion of the latter’s automated weather station (AWS) network in Palawan. The move aims to intensify the province’s resilience to climate-related risks such as extreme weather events.

Another agreement was also signed between PSFI and the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) to further solidify Shell’s support toward disaster prevention and mitigation efforts of Palawan local government units (LGUs).

“Palawan shows a high risk for potentially deadly storm surges,” explained PSFI executive director Edgar Veron Cruz, citing the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards or Project NOAH study of the Department of Science and Technology.

“The AWS will serve as an early warning device for communities so they can quickly respond to calamities. Shell recognizes the value of multi-sector collaboration to achieve greater societal resilience. For this partnership project with WPF and PCSD, Shell will offer operational sites such as Shell gas stations and oil depots in strategic locations for AWS installation, as well as donate AWS units for installation in PCSD satellite offices,” added Veron Cruz.

WPF was established by the Aboitiz Group in partnership with the MeteoGroup to help deliver critical and accurate weather forecasts to the Filipino community as a way of improving nationwide disaster preparedness and timely response to variable weather conditions. 

WPF currently has a network of 750 AWS in the Philippines covering 81 provinces, with 12 units already installed in Palawan.  The partnership between PSFI and WPF will provide an additional 30 AWS units. Priority sites for installation are PCSD satellite offices and communities surrounding Shell’s areas of operation in Palawan, particularly its oil depot in Puerto Princesa, Shell gas stations and coastal municipalities near the Shell-operated Malampaya deep-water gas-to-power project.

These AWS will provide more localized weather information, including temperature and humidity, solar radiation, wind speed and direction, and rainfall, according to Veron Cruz. Data gathered is transmitted to a central computer system on a near real-time interval that will help carry out data analysis and propel action in case of emergencies.

Currently, the government weather bureau PAGASA has three weather stations installed in Puerto Princesa, Cuyo, and Coron. The PSFI AWS partnership with WPF and PCSD will improve the evaluation of weather conditions by increasing the bases to 45 locations, including the 12 initial installations by WPF. All municipalities in Palawan will now have at least one AWS each.

The LGU plays a vital role by ensuring that the equipment is safe and in best condition. Training and simple equipment-maintenance workshops will be made available to volunteer agencies.

For its part, Shell is privileged to participate in an initiative that contributes to strengthening community systems through capacity building of LGUs under the framework of a multi-sectoral collaboration. “These projects are very much in line with our advocacy on sustainability, particularly urban and environmental resilience,” explained Sankie Simbulan, Shell social performance manager and lead for Shell’s Powering Progress Together projects.

Powering Progress Together is an advocacy of Shell that promotes partnerships among the public, private and civil society sectors to create more resilient communities against the challenges of climate change and scarcity of energy, water and food resources.

“Shell being a leader in power, energy and gas technology, continuously advocates to make best use of our world resources and to enable sustainable development of the communities we live in. With projects such as the AWS with WPF, we hope to illustrate that collaboration and partnership is possible in powering sustainable progress,” added Simbulan.