The Philippines is doubly vulnerable to climate change, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned.
“Many Filipino families live and make their living along coastal areas and depend highly on the natural resources from the sea, the land, and the forests for their livelihood and survival. This makes the Philippines doubly susceptible to the harsh impacts of climate change,” the ADB said.
Without effective adaptation and disaster risk reduction, climate change is likely to exacerbate high existing levels of income and wealth inequality, the ADB warned in a country profile.
“Poverty alleviation progress will be slowed,” it said.
Historical temperatures show a warming trend since the mid-20th century, with average annual mean temperature increasing by approximately 0.6°C and a significant increase in hot days and warm nights. These trends are similar to the Pacific region in general.
Average temperatures in the Philippines are projected to increase by 2.9°C by the 2090s, approximately 1°C less than the global average, an ADB country profile noted.
Tropical cyclones, flooding and landslides are projected to intensify as the climate changes, it said. The number of tropical cyclones making landfall is steadily increasing, with tropical cyclones appearing to also have greater intensity.
Sea-level rise is happening at an above-average rate for some parts of the Philippines, exposing up to one million people to flooding from rising sea levels by 2070-2100. “Investing in adaptation could potentially bring this number down significantly,” the ADB country profile said.
Agriculture is especially vulnerable to climate change impacts. Both increased flooding and the increased likelihood of droughts could impact agricultural land. This could contribute towards decreased agricultural productivity.
As it is, the Philippines is also considered to be among the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Commonly occurring hazards include floods, droughts, typhoons, landslides and mudslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
“Recent decades have witnessed an increase in damaging extreme events, such as heavy rainfall and tropical cyclone activity, and this trend is expected to continue under a changing climate,” the country profile stated.
The Philippines is ranked 114th out of 181 countries as vulnerable to climate change impacts, according to the Country Index of the 2020 Notre Dame University Global Adaptation Initiative. Norway is ranked 1st.
It’s nowhere better in Asia and the Pacific.
