Last week, on July 18, 2018, I attended the Pre-SONA Cabinet Cluster Forum on Climate Change and Security held at the Philippine International Convention Center as a representative of the Friends of the Seven Lakes Foundation.  SONA means State of the Nation Address.  The Cabinet Cluster means all the different Departments of Government whose mandate relates to Climate Change and Security.  This Cabinet Cluster convened the Forum in order to prepare the issues and concerns that the President of the Philippines would take up in his SONA today, July 23, 2018.

Several Department heads were present during the Forum.  Among the keynote speakers were Secretary Roy Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and National Security Council Adviser, Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, Jr.

The main points that were taken up were: 

?       Preparing communities to respond to effects of hazards and climate change, which include monitoring and warning facilities, repair and construction to prevent flooding, retrofitting bridges and earthquake resiliency measures

?       Supporting communities to recover from the effects of hazards and climate change, which include responding through different forms of assistance such as food, non-food, livelihood and financial and the immediate repair of damaged infrastructure

?       Protecting and conserving natural resources to increase resiliency of ecosystems, which include the national greening program, addressing air pollution, mapping of coastal habitats and enforcement of environmental laws

?       Pursuing a low carbon future, which includes promotion of low carbon technologies and increasing power generation through renewable energy like hydropower, wind, geothermal, solar and biomass.

These Cabinet Clusters identified the most vulnerable areas in the Philippines.  Their criteria for choosing the provinces that would have priority are susceptibility to climate hazards, high incidence of poverty, areas for agricultural development, major river basins and critical watersheds.  Areas with exposure to hazards such as drought, strong winds, flooding, landslide and storm surges were also selected. Many of the provinces were in the Visayas region and the Greater Metro Manila area.

The Performance and Projects Roadmap from 2018-2022 of these Cabinet Clusters are pushing for increased adaptive capacities of vulnerable communities, which would develop local capacities in preparing for emergencies, initiate health programs, organize livelihood programs for the community, etc. They also have programs to ensure the adequate supply of clean air, potable water and other natural resources.  They also push for improving the critical infrastructures like water supply, food supply, energy supply, communication infrastructure, roads and transportation, among others.