Manila, November 12 2009 — The Philippine Urban Development and Climate Change Forum, a joint undertaking of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), was conducted on November 11-12, 2009 at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Manila, Philippines.

The two-day activity was attended by 133 participants. Twenty three (23) speakers shared their experiences and knowledge through various presentations.  A total of 74 institutions/ organizations (13 international institutions, 26 NGOs/POs/ Academe/ Business, 20 government agencies and 15 cities) were represented.

Click here for a list of participants

The forum was designed come up with strategic solutions to the climate change phenomena by bringing together different stakeholders involved in urban development and climate change.  It aimed to:

1. discuss climate change;
2. improve understanding on how climate change will impact on the country’s sustainable urban development and highlight the important role of cities in increasing the country’s resilience to the projected impacts of climate change;
3. share and disseminate the Sorsogon City experience in developing the city’s  action agenda in addressing climate change impacts;
4. initiate the development of the “National Urban Agenda for Action on Climate Change” that will feed into the (a) implementation of the National Urban Development and Housing Framework and the (b) formulation of the Framework Program on Climate Change and the National Climate Change Action plan as embodied in the Philippine Climate Change Act of 2009; and
5. disseminate key information and messages from the Global Report on Human Settlements 2009: Planning Sustainable Cities to inform national discussion on urban planning and sustainable development.

Experts on Climate Change and Practitioners were invited as resource speakers/reactors/discussants during the two-day forum.  Topics covered are as follows:

1. Framing the Science of Climate Change, Impacts and Scenarios by Noel Duhaylungsod, Institutional Development Specialist;
2. The Challenge of Climate Change to Sustainable Urban Development – UN-Habitat’s Cities and Climate Change Initiative by Bernhard Barth, Climate Change Coordinator from UN-HABITAT HQ in Nairobi;
3. The Sorsogon City Experience and Challenges in Developing a Local Climate Change Action Plan by Leovic Dioneda, Sorsogon City Mayor;
4. Mainstreaming Climate Change in Urban Governance Processes by Jesse Robredo, Naga City Mayor;
5. Mainstreaming Climate Change in Urban Governance Processes by Discussant Joey Mastrili, City Planning and Development Officer (CPDO) of Taguig City
6. Keynote Address by Heherson Alvarez, Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change;
7. Urban Poverty and Climate Change: Can the Philippines Keep the MDG Promise? by Mel Senen Sarmiento, Calbayog City Mayor and LCP Secretary-General;
8. Programming Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Towards Sustainable Urban Environment Management by Mary Anne Lucille Sering, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary;
9. Framing Local Urban Economic Development vis-a-vis natural and climactic hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities: the Iloilo Experience by Joel Hechanova, City Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) of Iloilo City;
10. Highlights of the National Urban Development and Housing Framework (NUDHF) by Zacarias Abanes, HUDCC Director;
11. Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 – Planning Sustainable Cities by Bruno Dercon, Technical Adviser of UN-HABITAT Indonesia;
12. Reaction to the Global Report by Celia Alba, HUDCC Assistant Secretary;
13. Reaction to the Global Report by Linda Gonzales, Ligao City Mayor and LCP National Executive Board (NEB) member;
14. Reaction to the Global Report by Percival Chavez, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) Chair;
15. Financing Climate Change Adaptation by Brillo Reynes, Senior Vice President of the Development Bank of the Philippines;
16. Financing Climate Change Adaptation by Florian Steinberg, Asian Development Bank; and
17. Financing Climate Change Adaptation by Victor Vergara, World Bank.

Simultaneous break-out discussions and workshops on “Defining the Urban Sector Action Agenda on Climate Change”  were conducted as follows:

1. Session A:  Urban Governance and Climate Change facilitated by Dr. Mario Delos Reyes, University of the Philippines- School of Urban and Regional Planning (UP-SURP)
2. Session B: Urban Poverty Alleviation and Climate Change facilitated by Ricardo Torres, Philippine Equity Foundation (PEF) Assistant Director
3. Session C: Urban Environmental Management and Climate Change Mitigation facilitated by Noel Duhaylungsod
4. Session D: Local Economic Development and Climate Change facilitated by Francis Gentoral, Canadian Urban Institute (CUI)

The UN-HABITAT publication “Global Report on Human Settlements 2009: Planning Sustainable Cities” was launched and copies of the report were turned over by UN-HABITAT to HUDCC, LCP, DILG and city mayors. As an output of the forum and workshops, participants were able to come up with the following:

• Four workshop outputs on the thematic areas of:
  • Urban Governance
  • Urban Poverty Alleviation
  • Urban Environmental Management
  • Local Economic Development

• The Philippine Urban Stakeholders’ Action Agenda on Climate Change was drawn up and presented to the Philippine Urban Consortium (PUC) as a concrete set of directions that the urban stakeholders can pursue in the short and medium term future.

For a documentation of the highlights of the forum proceedings, click below:

• Executive Summary
• Daily Highlights
• Forum Brochure
• Program of Activities

References used in the forum included:

• Climate Change Act of 2009
• Updated National Urban Development and Housing Framework (2009-2016)