Albay to pilot climate change study

MANILA, Philippines – Albay province takes center stage again in the climate change adaptation initiative, having been recently chosen by an international research group as a model for the study of the impact and mitigating measures against the menace of global warming.

The Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) has chosen Albay province to pioneer a climate change simulation research and study, which it will conduct jointly with the College of Forestry and Natural Resources of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños.

Prof. Juan Pulhin of the Department of Social Forestry and Forest Governance of the UP College of Forestry and Natural Resources, a Nobel Peace Prize awardee in the field of climate change, broke the news of the APN study in a recent letter to Albay Governor Joey S. Salceda.

Pulhin said the study, “Capacity Development on Integration of Science and Local Knowledge for Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability Assessments”, has been approved by APN and will be started December this year. UPLB Foundation and APN have already signed the project agreement.

The study, Pulhin said, will last for a year and will be undertaken in partnership with professor Richard Warrick of the University of the Sunshine Coast of Australia — another Nobel Peace Prize awardee — who has designed the climate simulation model or “SimCLIM.” The model will be customized for Albay where it will be used in impact and vulnerability assessments and in adaptation planning.

Climate change adaptation was a campaign initiated by Salceda in his province. He started it when he hosted the 1st National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation in 2008 in Legazpi City, which was followed recently by the 2nd National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation or NCCCA+2 held at the Diamond Hotel in Manila only last month.

Salceda’s initiative placed Albay among those at the forefront of the campaign to teach the people to effectively adapt to the effects of sudden changes in climate as manifested by the increasing frequency and strength in weather disturbances that visit the country. –Nestor Etolle (The Philippine Star)