Climate Risk Study WWF head to Iloilo: Reinvent yourself

ILOILO CITY, Philippines  – A top official of the World Wildlife Fund of the Philippines yesterday said Iloilo has to reinvent itself to be able to reduce business risk and manage the effects of climate change.

Jose Maria Lorenzo Tan, chief executive officer of WWF-Philippines, said stakeholders here should talk and decide “on where Iloilo should go” and where to invest to find long-term solutions to the impact of the changing climate.

Tan was in the city to present the results of the climate risk assessment study his group conducted in the cities of Baguio, Cebu, Davao and Iloilo, which started in August last year.

Entitled “Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impacts,” the study revealed city-specific socio-economic baseline data for cities, which were selected based on the occurrence of storms, floods, drought and other extreme climate events during the past decade.

Study results showed that Baguio is the most vulnerable to climate change impacts such as landslides due to its having the highest rainfall and being the most densely populated city.

Iloilo ranked second in the list with the lowest literacy rate and higher index crime rate among the cities covered.

Cebu’s strategic location and “very reliable infrastructure” made it lesser vulnerable to calamities while Davao, which has the largest land area among cities and no record of typhoons, thus has no more room for sustainable, integrated area development.

“The future of Iloilo is tied to Panay Island. Surely, there are a lot of opportunities to improve. Capitalize on your connections with other provinces,” he said.

Tan said that while the fisheries, agriculture and shipping sectors here have remained stagnant in the past years, there was a lot of opportunities in the business process outsourcing and the human resource.

Acting City Mayor Jose Espinosa III replied by saying the results should serve as an eye opener for the people of Iloilo. “The results of the study will be considered in planning our projects,” he said.

The P5 million study was funded by the Bank of Philippine Islands. Similar study will be conducted next year on five more cities – Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Dagupan, Laoag and Zamboanga. – (FREEMAN)