Local government leaders resolved to take climate change into account in urban planning in a dialogue with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners, the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-Habitat), the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), the League of Provinces of the Philippines and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.
“We emphasize that the issues of climate change adaptation and mitigation must be tackled within a broader framework of sustainable housing and urban development,” said UN-Habitat country program manager Cris Rollo. “We promote strengthened partnerships across all levels of government as they work together to protect our environment, infrastructures, and public spaces from the effects of climate change.”
The national government recently consulted different stakeholders before updating and reviewing the National Urban Development Housing Framework.
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Commissioner Linda Hornilla said “we need to strengthen links between national urban policies and the experience at different levels of government to make the NUDHF more relevant.”
The local government leagues agreed to align their human settlement goals with national development.
Davao del Norte Gov. Anthony Del Rosario Jr. said local leaders must translate urban development and climate-change principles into local actions.
Angeles Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, LCP national president said “this activity provided us the opportunity to identify the areas where action is needed, in this case housing and urban settlements, such that we are able to prioritize and commit resources in the best possible way.”
The dialogue was hosted by the Vertical Integration and Learning on Low Emission Development (V-LED) Project implemented by the UN-Habitat, in partnership with Adelphi research, and with support from the International Climate Initiative of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.