To make communities more resilient, pro-environmental group Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST) urged the national government Thursday, March 10, to incorporate digitalization into their climate change initiatives.
The expanded climate finance ambition is a key element of Asian Development Bank’s efforts to support its developing member countries (DMCs). Facing the interconnected challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, many DMCs are taking bold action to promote a green, resilient, and inclusive recovery. (File photo courtesy of Asian Development Bank)
The statement came after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued another update warning regarding the “extreme and irreversible effects of global warming” recently.
According to PBEST Co-Convenor Felix Vitangcol, some private entities have already integrated digital technologies in their environment, social, and governance-related initiatives as he noted that “digital tools will lead to an enhanced community infrastructure and deliver reliable information for better decision-making.”
“The government has to match the initiatives of the private sector. We are running out of time,” Vitangcol said in a statement.
“A good model is data-backed Liveable Cities Challenge (LCC) Dashboard project in partnership with the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) and Globe which contain multi-year data on local communities’ basic information such as labor, education, local economy, doing business, mobility and connectivity, health, urban environment, resiliency and emergency response, and safety and security,” he added.
However, Vitangcol said these programs are insufficient to combat climate change, which is bound to worsen.
“PBEST underscores that with today’s increasingly unpredictable occurrences of climate risks, Philippines’ economic losses will continue to increase,” Vitangcol said.
He stressed that the next administration should prioritize enabling the country’s immediate transition to a data-driven and digital-enabled economy.
“This is to advance the efficient monitoring of real-time environmental conditions and create opportunities to develop new plans of action anchored on long-term sustainability, stewardship of the environment, and climate resiliency,” Vitangcol said.
Article by Faith Argosino | Manila Bulletin
