MANILA, Philippines — Mayor Abigail Binay has presented the city’s climate change emergency programs at the Daring Cities 2022 forum in Bonn, Germany.
Binay was a speaker at the global virtual forum tackling climate emergency held from Oct. 3 to 7.
“We have made climate change mitigation and adaptation a priority. We have identified key action areas and are working on both short-term and long-term plans as well as an all-of-society approach that engages our citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders,” she said in a statement posted on the city government’s Facebook page on Thursday night.
Daring Cities, organized by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, is designed to empower urban decision-makers such as mayors to lead in the climate emergency.
Binay expressed confidence that by sharing practices and working together, cities can be more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
In a separate video message posted on ICLEI’s Youtube channel, Binay said one of the remaining challenges in a climate emergency is finance, citing the gap between the need and the availability of funds at the local level.
“Even if there are funds available, they often struggle with designing bankable projects, projects that are attractive to invest in,” she said.
Binay said it is important to address bottlenecks through technical assistance and project preparations facilities which can assist local governments in designing appropriate financial solutions.