ZAMBOANGA City Government has scheduled a one-day climate change summit that aims to explain the science and future impact projections and discuss relevant strategies on how communities adapt to the issue.
Dubbed as “Multi-stakeholder Forum on Climate Change Adaptation,” the summit will be themed “Reducing Disaster Risk in a Changing Climate.”
Mayor Celso Lobregat said the summit will be a joint initiative of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the City Government of Zamboanga.
Lobregat said the summit is very timely following the massive flooding in Metro Manila and the earthquake in Haiti, which brought mass destruction to properties and resulted in the loss of lives.
The summit will be on February 3 at the Mayor Vitaliano Agan Coliseum in the village of Tetuan, east of Zamboanga City.
A year ago, the local government initiated the first ever Summit on Global Warming in Mindanao where over 12,000 participants turned up for the activity.
Lobregat said the climate change summit will make people well informed on measures on how to mitigate the effects of climate change.
He added that various speakers, who are experts on disaster management and the climate change phenomenon, have been invited to share insights to the participants.
Scientists predict that climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as floods, cyclones and droughts.
It is widely recognized that climate change is real and a major threat to socio-economic, environmental and human development.
It is also likely that it will lead to other changes, such as ecosystem degradation, reduced availability of water and food and changes to livelihood that will increase the vulnerability of communities to natural hazards.
The participants to the summit will be representatives from National Government, local government, non-government organizations, academe, private sector, business groups, communities and vulnerable sectors and the media.
NDCC chairman and acting secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Norberto Gonzales will keynote the climate change summit. (Bong Garcia)