Scoping assessment on climate change adaptation in the Philippines

Policy-wise, the Philippines has been responsive to the challenges of climate change with the government enacting a number of national policies underlining the necessity to undertake climate-related actions. Examples include the Climate Change Act of 2009 or RA 9729, the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change, and the National Climate Change Action Plan. The Philippines has also passed RA 10121 or the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law, which affirms and creates an enabling environment to develop synergy between disaster risk reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation to reduce disaster and climate-related risks. To secure stable funds for adaptation initiatives by the local governments and communities, on June 6, 2012, the Philippine Congress approved the Bicameral Committee Report for a law to establish the People\u27s Survival Fund to provide long-term finance streams to enable the government to effectively address the problem of climate change, amending for the purpose Republic Act 9729 . The legislation now awaits the signature of the President. For local government units (LGUs), the Philippines\u27 Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has issued several Memorandum Circulars (MCs) that encourage and/or mandate local governments to take the lead in adaptation. As early as 2008, even before the CC law was passed, DILG had already issued MC 2008-69 that encouraged CCA and DRR mainstreaming in development plans, projects, policies, and budgets at the local level. This was followed by a series of other MCs aimed at CCA capacity building and local government projects. While there is no dearth of climate change adaptation programs and projects in the Philippines, much of the current interventions are still led by the national government, and driven by external funding. Further analysis of the current adaptation interventions shows that the government has made significant investments in adaptation planning and understanding extreme events besides generating socio-economic information. But the scoping study also reveals that LG Us need urgent research on specific elements of the Philippine ecosystems; context-specific and culturally-appropriate adaptation options; new sources of funds; and downscaled climate models. LGUs also need to invest more in the actual practice of adaptation, and technologies required for it. To help LG Us build capacity on CCA, it will be advisable to set up a CCA committee comprising lead units of the LGU involved in sectoral development planning (in sectors such as social, economic, services and environment), and their community-based partners in government and non-government organizations, as well as in the private sector, State colleges and universities. This will enable synergy in the science, policy and practice work for evidence-based climate change adaptation work in LGUs. Furthermore, State colleges and universities can be encouraged to provide extension services on CCA for LGUs. A CCA Learning Consortium, which can serve as the Philippines\u27 Adaptation Knowledge Platform, can also promote an open­source and non-internet based learning platform across the country. Once organized, this CCA Learning Consortium can work toward ensuring sustained technical support for LG Us on matters related to CCA. And because RA 9729 requires LGUs, particularly the municipalities and cities, to prepare Local Climate Change Action Plans, the Planning and Development Units and other units of the LGUs involved in development planning should be given priority on CCA capacity building in the immediate future. All capacity building efforts on CCA for LGUs must contribute to better synergy. The capacity development interventions must be eventually directed toward strengthening the capacity building mechanisms of Local Government Academy (LGA), which is mandated to provide capacity building support for LGUs. Furthermore, knowledge management platforms on CCA should also complement one another. Hence, it is suggested that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) take the lead in facilitating the establishment of a knowledge management system as the law stipulates. Once established, DENR can provide technical support to the LGUs to initiate their own knowledge management systems given that environment and natural resources functions have also been devolved to the LGUs