Located in not just one but two calamity zones – the Tropical Cyclone Belt and the Pacific Ring of Fire – the Philippines is extremely vulnerable to both climate-related and geological hazards.

Each year, Filipinos experience firsthand the devastating effects of a fast-warming planet. With the increasing loss and damage, the Philippine government wasted no time and spared no effort in tackling the climate crisis.

Driven to fight for survival, we quickly developed and adopted a vast array of mitigation and adaptation measures targeted at decreasing carbon emissions and strengthening climate resilience.

These measures include enhancing access to climate finance through a blended approach, facilitating technology development and transfer with the international community, and taking bold steps to build a circular economy.

From this effort, one pioneering climate change adaptation measure was born: the People’s Survival Fund.

This transformative financing instrument seeks to fund locally-designed projects that would significantly bolster the country’s climate resilience and adaptive capacity.

An important feature of the Fund is that it empowers local government units and community organizations to equip vulnerable communities to effectively deal with the ill-effects of climate change from the ground up.

The Philippine government has approved wide-ranging climate adaptation projects that fall under several thematic areas, including river and watershed ecosystem management, flood management, ecological farming, and disaster risk reduction.

These efforts are aligned with and support the country’s blueprint for social and economic transformation, the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028, as well as our Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan.

Making the Fund as accessible as possible is crucial in ensuring that no Filipino is left behind in the fight against climate change. As such, the Marcos Jr. administration is determined to yield lasting solutions from this promising financial mechanism in the years to come.

We thank our local government units for the innovative projects that brought the vision of this Fund to life. It is their sincere hard work, cooperation, and aspiration for a more sustainable future that made all of this possible.

With local government units and communities as our partners in this journey to climate resiliency, I am confident and filled with hope that we can set the standard for climate adaptation not only in the Philippines but in the world.