MANILA, Philippines — Environment Secretary Toni Yulo-Loyzaga capped off the week-long regional disaster risk reduction conference with a memorandum signing with new partners for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) program reducing climate risk for local governments.
Loyzaga, together with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, led the Philippines’ hosting of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR).
That the environment secretary ended the week-long conference that took a year to plan with their flagship program, Project Transform, for local governments could be just a coincidence. Nevertheless, the final act emphasizes one truth that practitioners and authorities agree on: that resilience starts from the ground up.
“Nothing about us without us,” so the popular slogan goes, oft-repeated throughout the conference.
Loyzaga said during the closing ceremony that local participation is key, including “those at greatest risk.”
While disasters are experienced collectively, they impact communities unequally. Response has to be tailor-fitted in each community to promptly recover in the aftermath of disaster.
“As far as the business sector is concerned, the most powerful government entity is the local government. We are so afraid of them, to be honest,” quipped former energy secretary Rene Almendras on Thursday. “They can do things the national government cannot do, right?”
It’s not just what local governments can do, but their relationship with people, the shared experience and memory of disasters.
“Being part of the local government unit, we are in that position to make the person more invested by showing them that if you do not commit or if you do not invest in this kind of program, at the end of the day, it will be you and us who will be victimized by the calamities or by the effects of the environmental changes,” said Rizal 2nd District Representative Emigdio “Dino” Palou Tanjuatco III in the same panel.
Wanted: data, funds
A huge part of the work lies in involving communities in risk assessments, said Shivangi Chavda of the Global Network of Civil Society Organizations for Disaster Risk Reduction.
“They need to be into the planning stage, they have to be into the implementing stage and also getting it forward,” Chavda said on Thursday. “The participatory approach has to be institutionalized within the legal framework to create that enabling and conducive environment.”
Chavda said they did a survey across 50 countries and found that “there are 86% of this population who still do not have access” to disaster information and early warning system.
Having data on their hands and knowing what to do with it, local governments can prioritize investments for resilient infrastructure, enforce coastal defenses, as well as plan land use around risks, he said. And, more importantly, secure the funds to do these.
“The technological solutions require long-term financing,” said Chavda. “There should be long-term donor partnerships, long-term government commitments.”
But this is easier said than done. Resources, especially money in the local level, are almost always never enough.
In the case of Bataan, Governor Jose Enrique “Joet” Garcia III said several of their barangays only get a budget of P2 million per year.
“It’s very difficult to mobilize, very difficult to engage them because of lack of resources,” Garcia admitted.
But having a database of partners they can tap during crisis could help, the governor said.
“If we can do that properly, then we can look for partners, we can look for support groups who can help our communities, especially in times of calamities,” Garcia said.
Even solutions that traverse continents, time and space, face the question of relevance on how they could reach the ground.
In a panel session on the Philippines and European Union’s joint program to share Copernicus satellite data, one member of the audience asked how local governments will be trained to apply this data and ultimately serve their disaster response needs.
An example given was the DENR and the Philippine Space Agency’s initiative to map mangrove forests — critical habitats that could protect people living on coasts from storm surges. Conservation of mangrove forests is crucial to disaster risk and climate change mitigation as they can absorb carbon.
While the preliminary work of mapping used satellite data, the rest of it means validating the data on the ground — gathering information with willing organizations, volunteers, and locals who live near the area. (READ: EU’s satellites can help PH answer: What can we do about disasters?)
Looking into the future
APMCDRR happens every two years and gathers representatives from governments, private sector, academia, and civil society across a region known to be more vulnerable to disasters and the impacts of climate change.
The conference discusses the implementation of the Sendai Framework, an agreement that sets global targets in reducing mortality rate, infrastructure and economic damage due to disasters, and increasing countries with disaster risk reduction strategies.
It comes six years before 2030, when countries will be measured by their implementation of the Sendai Framework, the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.
Six years is a blip in time considering that the world is still lagging in meeting the targets of the Sendai Framework, as UN disaster risk reduction head Kamal Kishore reminded the audience at the start of the week.
Despite climate doom and tedious work, Kishore placed faith in people’s generosity. In the case of the Philippines, he said this was intrinsic to the Filipino spirit.
“I think the kind of joy you bring into every task you do is really contagious,” said Kishore during the event’s closing ceremony. “I think this really gives me confidence that we will be alright as humanity if we can bring this spirit.” – Rappler.com