Fifty-four percent of Filipinos blame man for calamities such as floods while 23% say these are God’s warning or punishment for turning to evil ways, according to a recent opinion poll on climate change.

"For 54% of Filipinos, people have only themselves to blame for typhoons, flooding, landslides, and other calamities that occurred in the Philippines and other countries in recent months," Pulse Asia's Dr. Ana Maria Tabunda said in the firm's August 8 media release. "Religious reasons are cited by 23% of Filipinos as a whole.”

When respondents were asked what these calamities were primarily caused by, the results were:

· 54% pointed to the card which said, "Destructive ways of people who regularly abuse the environment;
· 23% pointed to the card which said, "God's warning or punishment to nations turning to evil ways";
· 18% pointed to the card which said, "Natural processes that regularly occurs worldwide;
· 5% couldn’t say or choose.

Nearly 60% of Filipinos also think there has been big change in climate in their place in the past three years, an indication of growing public concern on climate change. 

"In the assessment of 58% of Filipinos, the climate in their place has changed much in the last three years--a view articulated by small majorities (57% to 58%) across all geographic areas and socio-economic groupings," Tabunda said.

Only 14% said there has been little climate change in their place in the past three years. Nearly one in three or 29% were undecided.

When asked whether climate change is dangerous or not to the environment, 61% said it was "dangerous" and only 11% said it was not.

Sixty-two percent agreed climate change was "dangerous" to the family, and only 11% said it was not.

The Pulse Asia survey on climate change was conducted July 1 to 14. The nationwide poll has a plus/minus 3% margin of error. It used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults.

50 million affected

Around 50 million people living mostly along the Philippines’ long coastline could be affected by climate change incidents such as sea level rise and storm surges, a Cabinet official said.

At the recent signing of a US$8 million Spanish grant to strengthen the Philippines’ capacity to adapt to climate change, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said the combined impact of flash floods, typhoons and dry spells on the economy from 1995 to 2007 amounted to P115 billion.

“Extreme events are becoming more frequent worldwide, and climate change and its impact will exacerbate the vulnerabilities of the poor,” the former senator said.

“Other ecosystems like the country’s coastal areas would be affected by sea level rise and increasing frequencies of typhoons and storm surges affecting 70 percent of the country’s municipalities and cities situated in the country’s 32,400 kilometer coastline or about 50 million people,” Recto said.

Relocate vulnerable communities

In an interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak, Office of Civil Defense Administrator Glenn Rabonza said “climate change is expected to bring a lot of effects on vulnerable communities.”

In coastal areas, he said that even if there is no sea level rise, communities are “already vulnerable to storm surges.”

Rabonza said the demonstration projects under Spain’s grant project seek to show how communities can adapt to climate change.

For example, he said the program may recommend the relocation of communities which will be affected by sea level rise and storm surges and identify possible relocation sites.

Another key measure is how to adapt agricultural practices to changes in climate, Rabonza said.

He said the program also seeks to “mainstream risk reduction” plans such as flood mitigation in national and local planning. 

Rabonza said the relatively big grant is justified since the Philippines is at the forefront of countries that are really vulnerable to climate change.

“Even without climate change, we’re severely affected by typhoons,” he said. “It’s very obvious we need this assistance and partnership.”

Climate scenarios

Prisco Nilo, director of the weather bureau PAGASA, told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak, PAGASA’s role in the project is to provide climate scenarios to the various agencies and local governments.

“We will undertake the science part of climate change. We will provide this information to the different agencies, which will be their basis for planning adaptation strategies,” Nilo said.

For the demonstration projects, PAGASA will also provide climate scenarios and trends.

Indicators

Citing a report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Recto said the Philippines “ranked as highest in terms of tropical typhoons occurrences, with an average of 20 typhoons a year resulting in substantial losses in life and property.”

Typhoon Frank, which hit the country last June, affected 959,047 families and caused P13.2 billion worth of damages in infrastructure and agriculture, he said.

Based on initial projections, Recto said a “2-3 degree centigrade rise in annual temperature is expected to impact areas like Eastern Mindanao, portions of Samar, Quezon and Metro Manila, Central Visayas and Southern Tagalog provinces.”  These changes will affect the country’s water supply, which then worsens food insecurity.

Project goals 
 
Spain’s $8 million grant, coursed through the Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund Thematic Window on Environment and Climate Change of the UNDP, has three objectives:

· Determine vulnerability of critical sectors of the Philippines to climate change;
· Strengthen the country’s adaptive capacity by enhancing the planning, programming and implementation capacities of key stakeholders;
· Undertake five adaptation demonstration projects to develop test systems for potential upscaling and replication.

The three-year program will work with nine national government agencies, local governments and communities.

Demo sites

The five demonstration projects and sites of the program are:

· Equitable Integrated Ecosystems Climate Change Adaptation in the Cordilleras;
· Strengthening Disease Surveillance, Emergency Preparedness, and Response for Climate Change-Related Conditions in Metro Manila and Albay;
· A2C2: A Local Governance Reform Model for Climate Resilient Development in Bicol Region;
· Designing and Building with Nature: Showcasing a Climate Change Resilient Human Settlement in Sorsogon City;
· Climate resilient farming communities in Agusan del Norte through innovative risk transfer mechanisms.

Three out of the five demonstration projects are in the Bicol region, which is often hit by destructive typhoons. In addition, Recto said the program builds on the initiatives of Albay Governor Joey Salceda “where climate change adaptation is the governing policy of the province, as embodied in the Albay Declaration on Climate Change.”

Recto said that among the adaptation strategies in the program are “standards and regulations that integrate climate change considerations into building design and codes, land use policies, and strengthening health services.”

He said the program also seeks to be a “strategic exercise for government to mainstream and integrate climate change adaptation policies and strategies” in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan.