Local governments and climate resiliency
AS the country’s financial center, Makati is particularly vulnerable to climate change. High concentration of people and vehicles at certain periods of the day translates to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Strong typhoons also impact on the city, since massive flooding and prolonged power outages disrupt business activities, affecting both the local and national economy.
To mitigate the effects of climate change, Makati has taken proactive steps which have been recognized by international bodies like the World Bank as early as 2008 when the agency named the city as one of East Asia’s Climate Resilient Cities. The World Bank made particular mention of Makati’s high state of disaster preparedness. In October of that year, I was invited to speak before a World Bank forum in my capacity as city mayor to mark the observance of International Disaster Risk Reduction Day.
Today, Makati is considered a leading city in promoting climate resiliency and disaster risk reduction.
I have been privileged to be asked by Mayor Abigail Binay to be an adviser to the city, on a volunteer capacity, on the issue of climate change. It has always been my view that the readiness of local governments to respond to disasters should go beyond having the right equipment and the right manpower. It also requires having the right policy framework, and being grounded in the science of climate change studies and acting accordingly.
Makati has not been spared the impact of devastating typhoons, yet the city has shown that damage to lives and properties can be kept to a minimum. Aside from adopting the needed policies, Makati has also invested in disaster preparedness. This year alone, Makati has allocated 1800 million for its Peace and Order and Public Safety (POPS) Plan, and 1900 million for its Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) Fund. In previous years, the city leadership acquired the latest vehicles and equipment for disaster response.
The same, however, cannot be said of other localities, particularly poorer local governments in the provinces. It underscores a glaring reality – all natural disasters impact on local economies first. When they occur in high intensities, natural disasters displace lives, homes, business and economic activities. They deepen poverty in communities already mired in poverty.
Natural disasters also stretch the capacity of local governments to respond to the immediate aftermath of disasters and to manage the humanitarian crisis that follows major natural upheavals.
When local economies are disrupted, the capacity of local governments to provide services for their people during normal times is also disrupted. The capacity of local governments to care for the poor, the sick, the children, and the elderly as a matter of regular social service is severely compromised.
This is most especially true in the case of small local governments with limited resources. The need to address climate change, therefore, takes on social dimensions, as it also impacts on a locality’s human and social investments, which in turn, would impact on the locality’s future stability.
But a recognition of the important role of local governments would also require a recognition of the dynamics of the relationship between local governments and the national government. Most local governments remain dependent on the national government, especially when responding to disasters and its aftermath. There are also shortcomings in national government services that are often blamed on local governments.
Mayors in Metro Manila, for example, are unfairly blamed for flooding in their localities, when the reality is that the national government needs to be made accountable for its failure to institute a reliable flood control program, its failure to properly dispose of Metro Manila’s garbage, and its failure to subject to rigorous review all applications for environmental permits from property developers.
While local governments should play a major role in climate change resiliency and disaster response, the reality is that local governments remain hobbled by lack of access to funds and technical expertise. The policy framework has already been set by national laws such as Republic Act 10121, the Philippine DRRM Act of 2010 and the Climate Change Act of 2009, as well as international conventions such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction Global Targets. The challenge is to translate policy into action. This would entail improving the capacities of local governments, of making them fully capable and competent first responders in times of natural disasters.