US launches P750-M climate resilience project in PH

MANILA, Philippines — The United States government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), formally rolled out a five-year project that will help the Philippines become a more climate-resilient country.

The US Embassy in the Philippines said on Friday that the P750-million Climate Resilient Cities Project will help cities adapt, mitigate and endure the impacts of climate change by increasing their access to climate financing and tools to build resilience.

Through the project, the US government will support local government units and other stakeholders to better understand, use, and disseminate climate information to local communities.

The project will also help cities and non-government organizations access climate financing to increase community resilience and contribute to communities’ economic and social development, as well as support natural climate solutions that increase cities’ resilience to climate change impacts, the US embassy said.

“Climate change is a serious threat and a daily reality for the Philippines.  For us, reversing the effects of climate change is a matter of survival.  We are determined to move ahead with the implementation of actual projects on the ground to be able to meet our commitments,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, President Rodrigo Duterte’s official representative in the Climate Change Commission, said.

“We thank the U.S. government for this timely initiative that will help arm our local communities with the necessary knowledge to enable them to formulate doable and practical climate adaptation and mitigation projects on the ground,” he added..

The Philippines has committed to a projected greenhouse gas emission reduction and avoidance of 75% from 2020 to 2030 for the agriculture, wastes, industry, transport, and energy sectors.

The project supports the Philippine government’s National Climate Change Action Plan, Nationally Determined Contributions, and National Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Roadmap, and advances the U.S. government’s goal of tackling the climate crisis around the world.

It  will also receive support from the government of the Republic of Korea, through the Korea International Cooperation Agency, as part of a joint partnership between the U.S. and Korean governments.

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