Major cities reminded of danger from sever weather events

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature is urging authorities in major cities in the Philippines to keep in mind severe weather events similar to the recent flash floods in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro in their urban development planning.

“Climate impacts are already known for many parts of the Philippines,” said WWF-Philippines vice chairman and CEO Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan. “However, pertinent, city-specific information to allow practical site-relevant business risk management decisions remain severely limited.”

The WWF is currently conducting climate change and business risk assessment studies for four of six candidate cities—Laoag, Dagupan, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Lucena and Zamboanga.

The studies will be used to gauge each city’s vulnerability, including climate or environmental exposure, socio-economic sensitivity and adaptive capacity. A 20-year timeframe will be used to accurately gauge trends.

“We must act soon, for what happened to Cagayan de Oro last December can happen in your own city,” Tan said. “Remember, the price of procrastination is paid in billions of pesos — or in precious lives. Let not the lessons of Ondoy, Pepeng and Sendong come to waste. Adaptation is our key to survival.”