Poor to suffer more due to climate change – NSCB
BEYOND bad storms, drought and overall inclement weather, climate change will become a major threat to a country’s development as it will make the poor suffer even more, according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
In his online column Statistically Speaking, titled “Climate Change–Will the Poor Suffer More?”, NSCB Secretary- General Romulo Virola said statistics showed that most of the provinces that are vulnerable to very strong typhoons which are accompanied by landslides and floods are also home to some of the poorest Filipinos.
The Cordillera Administrative Region, or CAR (Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and the Mountain Province); Regions IV-B, or Mimaropa (Marinduque; Mindoro Occidental; Mindoro Oriental; Palawan; Puerto Princesa; and Romblon); Region VI or Western Visayas (Aklan, Antique, Negros Occidental, Capiz, Guimaras and Iloilo); Region I or Ilocos region (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan. Its regional center is San Fernando City, and La Union); and Region V or the Bicol region (Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon) are the five regions that are most vulnerable to landslides.
While the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or ARMM (Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi); Region IX or the Zamboanga Peninsula (Isabela City, Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay); Mimaropa; Region VIII or Eastern Visayas (Leyte and Samar, Biliran, and minor islands); and the Bicol region are the five most vulnerable regions to a one-meter rise in sea level.
“If these statistics are right, the poor will most likely suffer more from climate change. Our poverty-reduction program must, therefore, recognize the vulnerability of the poor to climate change and appropriate interventions must be designed accordingly,” Virola said.
Virola added Sulu, Palawan, Zamboanga del Sur, Northern Samar and Zamboanga Sibugay are the five provinces that are most vulnerable provinces to a one-meter rise in sea level, while the poor of Region V are exposed to heavier rainfall than the poor in the National Capital Region.
“In the most vulnerable provinces, the poor are relatively at a greater risk to a one-meter rise in sea level than the general population,” Virola said.
Climate change already has evidence in the Philippines as shown in the increase in the number of typhoons in the country. From 27 typhoons during the period 2000-03, the number ominously increased to 39 from 2004-07.
Around seven of the 20 deadliest typhoons in the Philippines covering the period 1947-2006 occurred in 1990-2006. The typhoons are getting stronger and stronger, especially since the late 1990s. In fact, typhoon Signal No. 4 has become a possible occurrence in recent years.
Between 1947-2006, three of the five strongest tropical cyclones in the Philippines occurred in the past decade. Total damages brought about by typhoons increased by 408 percent from 2003 to 2006.
“In addition, based on our work on the Philippine Happiness Index, the environment is not one of the important sources of happiness of Pinoys unfortunately, and, we are unhappiest with the government, politics, economy and the environment,” Virola said.
With this, Virola said statistical offices should get involved in the measurement of the impact of climate change to enable the government to draft better poverty-reduction programs.
He said the statistical offices and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other concerned departments must strengthen their institutional linkages in order to be able to generate timely and relevant statistics on climate change.
However, Virola said the statistical capacity of agencies, as well as users of statistics on climate change, both at the national and subnational levels, has to be strengthened.
“The PSS [Philippine Statistical System] obviously can do a lot to contribute not only to monitoring climate change but, in general, to evidence-based decision-making and informing decisions in both the government and the private sector. Toward good governance, if only the Department of Budget and Management would give us more manpower resources,” Virola said.
Cai Ordinario, The Business Mirror
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