Effective climate action starts in our communities

When I started serving as mayor of Ormoc, I was blessed to have been handed a well-performing city, thanks to the foundation of hard work and good governance established by my predecessor. A particular legacy project I am privileged to carry on with involves an issue that is close to my heart, and that is climate change.

Having first-hand experience of the ravages of global warming through typhoons and floodings, and with our province being one of the most at risk of climate emergencies, mitigating climate change is of utmost priority for my administration.

At the Multistakeholder Forum organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Iloilo City last January, I was proud to have participated in the launch of a nationwide climate action program that started out as a simple multisectoral project in our very own local government unit (LGU).

The ”Adopt-a-City” project was first implemented in the midst of the pandemic in 2021, spearheaded by the National Resilience Council (NRC) under the leadership of DENR Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga, along with our enthusiastic private sector partners—the Romulo Foundation and Lopez-led Energy Development Corporation (EDC).

The idea was to tackle the seemingly insurmountable challenge of climate change from the grassroots level, by institutionalizing environmental awareness and action in our everyday lives in the community. The project clearly defined three key areas of impact where we aim to see positive results—ecological, social and economic.

Under “Adopt-a-City” we carried out initiatives such as biodiversity audits so that we could see how regenerative livelihood can be developed utilizing our natural resources. A prime example of this is the cacao and coffee plantation we created for the Tongonan Farmers Association. We also prioritized legislation and put local ordinances in place to protect the interests of our people and our planet.

We bolstered our disaster preparedness through barangay-level trainings and workshops. We also strengthened our environmental protection and conservation efforts by capacitating upland dwellers as well as our forest patrols and local environment officers with proper training.

Finally, we continued with our greening and reforestation efforts, particularly inside the Lake Danao Natural Park and along the Anilao and Malbasag rivers. We established the Ormoc Tree Haven and Arboretum along with the urban greening of ten barangays in our city.

The ultimate gratification from all these efforts is not only seeing the environmental, social and economic improvement in the lives of our constituents, but being recognized by the DENR as a successful case study for LGU-based climate action that can be replicated across the nation.

Thus, Project: TRANSFORM (Transdisciplinary Approach for Resilience and Environmental Sustainability Through Multistakeholder Engagement) was born. It is a privilege for our LGU to continue serving as the pilot location for this endeavor, now composed of DENR, NRC, EDC and partners such as the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) and the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF).

Project: TRANSFORM will build on the existing framework we have established with our “Adopt-a-City” program and enhance it further in critical aspects. For instance, EDC—one of our staunchest and most committed partners in the quest for decarbonization through renewable energy (RE)—has developed with the DENR five modules that will fill gaps in biodiversity profiling and inventory; greenhouse gas accounting; financial literacy toward improvement of livelihood projects; disaster management; and nature-based solutions such as carbon policies and other approaches to climate resilience.

All of these initiatives jive with the existing activities we have in place in our LGU and will be measured by the same metrics of positive ecological, social and economic performance that have been earlier set.

I am not just excited by the prospect of our communities benefiting from this program, but by the role they have been tasked to play in the fight against climate change. This approach is truly strategic because it empowers our fellow countrymen to take responsibility and action for the climate emergency we all face. Thus, the success of our goal becomes clearer and more attainable, as we work with a more genuine sense of cooperation, collaboration and community.