Batangas, Muntinlupa vie in We Love Cities 2020 tilt

The cities of Batangas and Muntinlupa are in the running for this year’s leg of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s We Love Cities Campaign — a public engagement initiative that aims to raise awareness on the sustainability progress being made in these cities as well as inspire citizens to become a part of the process.

Launched by WWF in 2013, the campaign engages people across the globe in promoting sustainable urban development by voting for their favorite finalist and posting improvement suggestions for these cities.

It also gives the general public an opportunity to celebrate, vote and upgrade their city through suggestions made and addressed to decision makers.

Since its inception, over 150 cities have participated and more than 100,000 citizen improvement suggestions have been shared with city officials.

With cities accounting for 70 percent of carbon emissions worldwide and playing a pivotal role in generating the global GDP, they are encouraged to share climate mitigation plans centered in their critical role of building a sustainable and climate-safe future, taking into consideration their influence and power to transition to a more stable climate.

Atty. Angela Ibay, WWF-Philippines’ Climate and Energy program head, expressed her appreciation for the country’s local qualifiers this year as they participate in this campaign to promote sustainable urban development.

“Even at a time when cities are addressing the effects of the pandemic, our finalist cities are showing that getting its residents involved in this campaign would enable the cities to further share and strengthen their actions towards sustainable development and hopefully inspire and empower others to do so,” she said.