Resilience from disasters top agenda of PH environment forum in Ilocos

In a bid to improve the country’s resilience from disasters, the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) will hold an international forum to share ideas on how to combat effects of climate change in the urban areas.

The DENR and ERDB will host the Urban Resilience and Disaster Rick Reduction Management Forum on December 4-8, 2017 in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte,

“With the urban population expected to increase by at least 2.5 billion by 2050 according to UN reports, pursuing urban resiliency should be an important agenda for all policy and decision makers, resource managers, and environmental scientists and researchers”, said Dr. Henry A. Adornado, ERDB-DENR executive director, in a statement Sunday.

“We want to be vigilant and prepared in any eventuality as a result of climate change. We need not wait for another disaster to happen before we get our acts together,” he added.

According to the Asian Development Bank’s “Urban Climate Change Resilience” (UCCR), the impact of natural disasters had caused $1.7 trillion in global damage, impacting many urban populations.

The forum, the bureau said, will provide an avenue for the exchange of information and coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies on the impacts of climate change and urbanization in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region.

The congress will be participated by established research and development (R&D) practitioners from various academic and research institutions in the Asean who are working on urban ecosystem, environment and natural resources management.

“We also hope that through this forum, the members of Asean countries will able to discuss the issues and challenges in addressing urban vulnerability and in return will be able to also identify researchable areas and future plans that could help in developing strategies to achieve urban resiliency” Adornado added.

The executive director said experts would present their studies covering the following subjects: vulnerability assessment in megacities and other highly urbanized areas; climate change adaptation strategies and coping mechanisms; green growthstrategies and government programs for urban resilience; disaster risk reduction management startegies in highly urbanized areas; and financing resilience.

The executive director said the research presentations will highlight policies, programs and experiences that may be emulated or replicated among Asean members.

Dr. Simplicia A. Pasicolan, forum overall coordinator and ERDB Ecosystems Research chief, said the papers will provide updated information on R&D on coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies on the impacts of climate change.

“Cities should have the ability to bounce back at once after any disaster,” Pasicolan said.

The ideas that would be discussed in the forum would be used to the government’s plan on urban resilience to climate change, the ERDB pointed out.