BAYBAY CITY, LEYTE—The Visayas State University (VSU), civil society and local governments championed climate change resilience in Eastern Visayas through science and the arts.
Students, teachers, school officials and representatives joined a two-day learning event held inside the university on August 25 and 26.
“Climate change is already happening in different regions around the world, and on multiple levels,” said climate scientist and Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities’ (ICSC) Climate Science Advisor Lourdes Tibig, a main speaker at the event. “We are all affected, whether we come from rich or…developing countries. Everyone has to participate and do [his or her] part.”
The knowledge-exchange session “Klima Eskwela: Climate Science, Adaptation, and the Arts,” was organized by ICSC, The Climate Reality Project Phils. (Climate Reality Phils.), and the VSU-Regional Climate Change Research and Development Center (RCCRDC).
“In the Philippines, there is still a disconnect in government systems in terms of adapting to and mitigating climate change. Local communities sometimes lack access to the needed resources,” Tibig added. “There is no going back regarding the changes happening in the climate system, which is why we have to do whatever we can to contribute to the efforts [addressing] climate change.”
For years the Eastern Visayas region has been at the forefront of climate impacts, both slow in onset: sea-level rise, increasing sea-surface temperatures and ocean acidification; as well as extreme weather events. The region was the first to be hit by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) back in 2013.
Dr. Eduardo Mangaoang, director of the VSU-RCCRDC and member of the National Panel of Technical Experts of the Climate Change Commission, presented their study that aims to bring Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance or CDRFI to “Yolanda”-affected communities.
Representatives of the local government, civil society, academia and youth from the region signed an agreement to put people first and at the center of climate financing, especially those at great risk. They stated: “We affirm the primacy of the humanitarian imperative: that action should be taken to prevent or alleviate human suffering arising out of disaster or conflict, and that nothing should override this principle.”
Arts and humanities also play an important role in climate action. In this sphere, the youth have been stepping up, according to Climate Reality Phils.’ Branch Manager Nazrin Camille Castro.
On the second day of “Klima…,” Baybay City’s young artists and youth leaders brainstormed ideas for a mural as part of the “Poets for Climate” project of Climate Reality Phils., Africa, and Canada. They will create the mural in the coming weeks.
“We trust that the artists will incorporate what they have learned in the first day of the learning session—including their insights on the latest climate science findings, and the experiences of the most vulnerable sectors in Baybay City—into the mural they will develop and its call to action,” Castro said.
“We could use the recent extreme weather events to put a spotlight on climate-change impacts plaguing vulnerable countries, like the Philippines, for many years now,” she added. “There is no better way to showcase the similarities, diversity, and connectedness of these lived experiences than through the arts. When we act collectively, we will definitely have a bigger impact.”