By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
With rising temperatures and sea levels underscoring the seriousness of climate change and the vulnerability of communities around the world, the Philippines is set to utilize its chairship of ASEAN 2026 to bolster a regional response among its member states.
During this week, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will lead high-level discussions with representatives from member states and key stakeholders such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Climate Change Commission (CCC).
DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna expounded the scope of the planned regional climate action, “This means protecting and restoring the natural systems that support livelihoods and resilience, from mangrove belts and coral reefs that buffer storm surge, watersheds that sustain agriculture and fresh water, to intact forests that regulate rainfall and stabilize soils.”
DENR will highlight field-level actions such as coastal ecosystem restoration, reforestation and forest rehabilitation, pollution control and mine-site rehabilitation, protected area management, and community-led natural resource governance that reduce hazard exposure while delivering co-benefits for biodiversity and local incomes.
The ASEAN Climate Week 2026 moreover, aims to collate opinions from all member states and condense these into a collective voice at the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), which will be held at Antalya, Turkey in November.
As the country in charge of this year’s ASEAN Summit, a statement is also expected to be crafted by the Southeast Asian nation that incorporates inputs from other members of the 11-country bloc to call for a comprehensive global effort in addressing climate change.
This people-centric approach towards helping communities tide over unpredictable climate patterns is anchored in the instruction of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to ensure that such initiatives would deliver tangible results and ensure adequate protection for people from all walks of life.
Secretary Cuna concluded, “The Philippines, for its part, has initiated dialogue and studies through the ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change. In fact, there is a study on loss and damage, in particular, which aims to be able to assist the readiness of the different ASEAN states to deal with climate change and, in the process, identify their specific needs so these can be addressed.” (with report from Gab Humilde Villegas | PTV News)
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