On the heels of super typhoon Yolanda’s fury and ahead of the National Climate Change Consciousness Week,  the Demonstration of Ecotown Framework by the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) emphasizes that economic growth and climate change can be mutually enforcing if we could fully take advantage of the concomitant shared opportunities.

Given the Philippines’ extreme vulnerability to climate change, CCC stressed the need to view adaptation as a necessity rather than an option. Even the country’s recent economic gains will be futile in the wake of the changing climate and its adverse impacts, said Helena Gaddi, who talked about the payback of “acting wisely from the beginning” as opposed to “develop first and clean up later” mindset.

It was further noted that investing or financing climate change action is not an extra development burden since adaptation measures could translate to savings from avoided costs once the impacts of climate change manifest.

Against this backdrop, details on the demonstration of ecotowns in ten municipalities were revealed. Five project sites are being supported by GGGI specifically the municipalities of Del Carmen, Pilar, San Benito, and San Isidro in the province of Surigao del Norte and the municipality of San Vicente in Palawan.

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