Philippines: Summit on climate change adaptation opens in Davao City

Davao City - The Mindanao leg of the Local Government Units (LGU) Summit on Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in the Philippines opened on Tuesday in this city.

The two-day summit aims to increase local awareness on and commitment to CCA by bringing together local government officials, scientists, and other development partners to share practical information on CCA.

CCA refers to the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli, thus reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to the effects of the changing climate.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) initiated the activity in partnership with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Provincial Government of Albay and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

Similar with two previous legs of the summit in Albay and Iloilo, Tuesday's summit will present tools on how local government units (LGUs) can assess their communities' vulnerability, as well as successful practices of CCA at the local level.

Working group sessions will specifically focus on three areas such as measuring the LGUs' vulnerability to climate change; integrating disaster risk reduction and CCA in local development planning and decision; and CCA practices at the local level.

President Benigno Aquino III has been invited to keynote the closing of the summit on Wednesday

LGU officials are also expected to present to President Aquino their Manifesto of Commitment and Pledge of Support to CCA during the summit. (PNA) DCT/LAM/DDB/ldp