ADB includes Phl in climate-change affected countries

MANILA, Philippines - A total of 25 secondary cities in Asia, including the Philippines, are in danger of unimaginable ravages caused by the impact of climate change.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), these cities are undergoing unprecedented population growth thus exposing greater numbers to huge risks.

To prepare for risks brought about by climate change, the government of the United Kingdom, the Rockefeller Foundation and the ADB are teaming up to establish a fund “to help Asia’s fast growing secondary cities protect their urban poor from the ravages of climate change.”

The first six countries selected for inclusion in the program are Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

ADB director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Division in the Department of Regional and Sustainable Development Gil-Hong Kim said the region’s cities are going through an unprecedented population boom and their poorest citizens are in the front line of extreme floods, rising sea level, and other climate change-linked events.

“This innovative partnership brings together a private foundation, a bilateral organization, and ADB – a multilateral development bank – to leverage and scale up solutions to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable urban communities,” Kim added.

The three partners will roll out an innovative program – Managing Climate Risks for the Urban Poor – to help 25 secondary cities in the region counter the impacts of climate change.

Financing will come from a new Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund administered by ADB.

UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) will provide initial grant finance for the fund of $130-million equivalent, with the Rockefeller Foundation supplying $5 million. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has also expressed interest in supporting the Fund.

About 55 percent of developing Asia’s population of more than 3.7 billion people is expected to be living in urban centers by 2030, and secondary cities – which are seeing some of the fastest population rises – are among the least prepared for tackling new climate challenges.

Low-income groups, who often live in informal settlements with few services and in hazard prone areas on river banks or along exposed coastlines, are the most at risk.

The program takes a new tack on urban climate proofing, adopting a more comprehensive approach than the piecemeal, opportunistic measures of the past.

It will support linked activities, including assistance for incorporating climate change and disaster risk and resilience thinking into city plans.

It will also provide technical assistance for preparing climate resilient infrastructure projects, which benefit the poor, and it will fund knowledge gathering and research to exchange lessons learned and best practices on urban climate change.