Four international, national institutions share info on climate change

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna , Philippines -  — Three international and regional institutions and a state university pooled their expertise and resources toward enriching a database on climate change.

The institutions are the United Nations Development Program-Adaptive Learning Mechanism (UNDP-ALM), Malaysia-based WorldFish Center (WFC), Los Baños-based Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA), and University of the Philippines Los Boños (UPLB).

UNDP-ALM, WFC, and UPLB have signed similar but separate memoranda of agreement (MOA) with SEAMEO SEARCA in support of SEARCA”s Knowledge Center on Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management in Southeast Asia (KC3).

Signatories to the MOA were SEARCA Director Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., UNDP-ALM project manager Julia Wolf, WFC regional director for Asia Dr. Maripaz Perez, and UPLB chancellor Dr. Luis Rey Velasco.

SEARCA established KC3 in 2008 to provide the information needs on climate change of the 11 SEAMEO member-countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam).

SEAMEO is an inter-government treaty organization founded in 1963 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in the fields of education, science, and culture.

KC3 aims to help nationals of the SEAMEO countries to understands the what’s and why’s of climate change and how it affects the agriculture and natural resources sectors. It will provide a venue for knowledge exchange and sharing to strengthen related research and development, capacity building, and policy advocacy efforts.

Target beneficiaries of KC3 are policymakers, academics, businessmen, funding donors, non-government organizations, extension workers, farmers, students, and the general public.

“KC3 is being geared by SEARCA initially as a regional database for adaptation practices as regards the effects of climate change,” Dr. Saguiguit said. “Later, the plan is to develop it into a hub for ready-to-access knowledge solutions to address the impacts of climate change on natural resources and agriculture in Southeast Asia.”

Under the MOA, SEARCA will collaborate, share expertise, and exchange scientific materials and publications and other information with UNDP-ALM, WFC, and UPLB. They will also develop a network on climate change adaptation in agriculture and natural resources management to advance their education and research objectives.

Moreover, they will build technical cooperation on climate change adaptation in Southeast Asia.