The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) are partnering to increase resilience to climate change in four Filipino cities.
Through the “Philippine Cities and Climate Change Adaptation” initiative, WFP and UN-HABITAT will assess climate-related risks, train local governments to plan for adaptation and implement community adaptation activities.
6 December 2012: The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) have partnered to carry out the “Philippine Cities and Climate Change Adaptation” initiative, which aims to increase resilience to climate change in four Filipino cities.
The 12-month WFP-UN-HABITAT partnership will assess the ecological, physical and socio-economic risks from climate change in the cities of Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Iloilo. UN-HABITAT will train local government officials in each city to plan for and implement adaptation activities. WFP will then lead community adaptation projects in collaboration with the local governments. The cities were selected based on several criteria, including local government commitment to building capacity and exposure to climate and natural hazards, such as droughts, floods and rising sea levels.
Christopher Rollo, Country Programme Manager, UN-Habitat Philippines, underlined that the project will support risk and vulnerability assessments as the basis for urban planning. He noted that “cities are becoming the arena where the fight for the achievement of development goals will be won or lost.” Stephen Anderson, WFP Philippines Country Director, said the initiative will empower “local governments and communities to adapt to climate change” and expressed the hope that the initiative would eventually facilitate the inclusion of adaptation actions in city development plans. [WFP Press Release]