Desktop Study on - Regional Climate Change Adaptation ...

<strong>Desktop</strong> <strong>Study</strong>
to involve the different stakeholders,
especially those who are directly affected
by climate-related events, to ensure the
accuracy of the vulnerability index.
The variables identified in the regression
model used in the study of PCW, namely,
ethnic affiliation, household size, monthly
food consumption, and farm distance to
market were found insufficient to analyse
household’s vulnerability. An average of
approximately 55% of the vulnerability
variance based on the weights provided
by both researchers and the local
communities were unaccounted for on an
aggregate level (Lasco, 2006).
Many studies on climate change impacts
and adaptation in the forest, agriculture
and water resources sectors have reported that
there exists a fragmented approach as well as a
disconnection between local planning and actual
adaptation strategies and also inspected the lack of
interdisciplinary partnership in research projects
that could assist in more holistic analysis and findings
on adaptation processes (Penalba et al., 2007, Allen,
2006, Capili, Ibay and Villarin, 2005, Castillo et
al.,2008, and Sales, 2008, cited in Resurreccion et al.,
2008).
Governance Gaps
Lack of enabling national policies and institutional
support to enhance adaptive capacity to reduce
climate change impacts appears to have prevented
the local communities from making efforts to reduce
biological as well as socio-economic vulnerability.
For example, the forest policy does not allow
timber harvesting in watershed areas in which the
communities are already involved in the projects
of plantation establishment (Lasco, 2006). Lack of
direct access to natural resources and limited sources
of livelihood opportunities, community members are
forced to get involved in illegal logging and charcoalmaking
, which has resulted in degradation of the
watershed contributing to biological vulnerability.
There is no institutional support to build the capacity
of the local communities to anticipate the occurrence
of variables and extreme climate events. The lack
of assessing policy-planning processes based on
behavioural analysis on policy-makers might affect
the extent of vulnerability of local communities to
climate change because vulnerability is an outcome
not only of decision processes of the communities
but also of the responses of policy makers to certain
opportunities or risks faced by climate change
(Acosta-Michlik and Espaldon 2008).
Figure 20: Operational set-up of Presidential Task
Force on Climate Change (Environmental
Management Bureau, 2007)
DBM
Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTCC)
Operational Set-up
Capacity Gaps
The study on people’s vulnerability points that
a sense of dependency for external assistance,
rather than the culture of self-reliance has been
built through the long-term socio-political process
started from 1971 to the present, whereby the chain
of development projects have been implemented
(Lasco, 2006). Such resettlement projects were little
intended towards building capacities of the local
communities to increase resilience from climate
change impacts.
The capacity of the poor community to increase
resilience from climate change impacts remains low
due to the prevailing inequitable social structure
especially in PCW (Lasco, 2006). This is reflected
by the community’s own typology of small, average
and rich farmers. Given that enhancing the adaptive
capacity is associated with availability of, access
to and control over productive resources, the
prevailing inequality that embodies the Philippine
social structure is a crucial issue to tackle as a root
cause.
CROSS-SECTORAL
INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS
Climate Change
PTFCC All Agencies /
GOCCs
IACCC
(Technical Support
Secretariat /
DENR
Current Institutional settings for
Climate Change Related Activities
The Philippines was one of the earliest countries to
address the challenges of climate change. In 1999,
the country submitted to the UNFCCC an Initial
National Communication on Climate Change. Since
the preparation time for the ratification of UNFCCC,
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