Set to begin in February 2012, the study builds on Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impacts – a warmly-received, publicly-downloadable study completed in October 2011 which assessed the vulnerability levels of an initial run of four cities – Baguio, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao.
“Climate impacts are already known for many parts of thePhilippines,” says WWF-Philippines Vice-Chair and CEO Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan. “However, pertinent, city-specific information to allow practical site-relevant business risk management decisions remain severely limited.”
After the devastation wrought by tropical storm Sendong, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation have once again partnered to conduct Climate Change and Business Risk Assessment studies for four of six candidate cities – Laoag, Dagupan, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Lucena and Zamboanga.
The new study series will again highlight city-specific socio-economic baseline factors for selected cities. A tri-vector analysis bolstered by inputs from multi-stakeholder scenario building exercises shall be used to gauge each city’s vulnerability – including climate or environmental exposure, socio-economic sensitivity and adaptive capacity. A 20-year timeframe will be used to accurately gauge trends.
The first factor contrasts local climate scenarios with city-specific weather information while socio-economic sensitivity examines variables such as population, agriculture, tourism, new and existing businesses and investment, health and educational enrollment.
Lastly, adaptive capacity assesses variables such as labor or workforce, city revenue, expenditures, reserves and functional literacy – all of which reflect each city’s ability to implement effective adaptation strategies.
Recommendations from the initial study were highly regarded.CebuCityfor example, already requested the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to conduct feasibility studies for a new airport forNorthern Cebu- following WWF’s advice to decentralize and spread out airline hubs.
“We must act soon, for what happened to Cagayan de Oro last December can happen in your own city,” warns Tan. “Remember, the price of procrastination is paid in billions of pesos – or in precious lives. Let not the lessons of Ondoy, Pepeng and Sendong come to waste. Adaptation is our key to survival.”
WWF and BPI Foundation shall begin the study this February, with the results to be presented in October.
Results of the first study covering the cities of Baguio, Iloilo, Cebu and Davaocan be found here: http://wwf.org.ph/wwf3/climate/publications.
