18 million households to benefit from climate resilience project

MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 18 million households nationwide are expected to benefit from a $874.35-million climate resilience project that aims to strengthen the capacity of disaster-prone communities to withstand the impacts of climate change.

Dubbed as the Philippines Community Resilience Project, the program will be rolled out by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 500 vulnerable municipalities across 49 provinces.

The project, also known as Pagkilos, is jointly funded by the World Bank and the Philippine government, with the WB providing $700 million through a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The Philippine government will contribute $174.35 million.

Pagkilos adopts a community-driven development approach to enable residents to assess local climate risks and propose “resilience investments” such as flood control, drought mitigation, erosion control, slope protection, breakwaters and agroforestry.

Zafer Mustafao?lu, WB division director for the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, said the sub-projects will be designed, budgeted and implemented by the communities themselves.

“By empowering local communities to take the lead in building resilience against climate change and disaster risks, the Philippines is not only addressing immediate environmental challenges but also fostering a culture of proactive engagement and resilience,” Mustafao?lu said.

According to the WB, the program will also support climate-smart agriculture and small-scale irrigation projects to boost food security and strengthen the livelihoods of vulnerable sectors.

To reach around one-third of the country’s total Indigenous Peoples population, the project covers at least 177 municipalities that has a minimum IP population of 10 percent.

Women, beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and other vulnerable groups are also among the key target participants.

Community volunteers and local government units will be given technical support and training to improve disaster preparedness and implementation capacities.

“In a country highly vulnerable to climate and natural hazards, investing in grassroots resilience not only protects lives and livelihoods but also helps communities recover more sustainably,” said Ditte Marie Fallesen, WB senior social development specialist.

The Philippines is consistently ranked among the world’s most disaster-prone countries. In 2023, climate-related disasters, including typhoons and floods, accounted for 2.1 million of the 2.6 million recorded displacements in the country.