GCF okays $10-M proposal for advanced hazard forecasting in PHL

The Philippines secured on Wednesday a $10-million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) after its board approved the country's project proposal to establish a multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning system.

The green light came as the board, composed of 24 members from developed and developing countries, convened in Songdo, Korea this week.

“The Board’s decision to approve this project comes at a critical time as we commemorate this November the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines six years ago," House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda said in a statement.

Legarda is a member of the GCF Board.

"The experiences and lessons we gained from Yolanda and other disasters necessitated the need for a project like this that can translate risk and hazard information into understandable and actionable early warnings, so our citizens remain safe and aware,” Legarda said.

The more than half a billion-peso project aims to provide "tailored climate risk information" to the following hazard-prone communities in the country: Tuguegarao City, Legazpi City, Palo in Leyte, and New Bataan in Davao de Oro.

The grant will be channeled to the Land Bank of the Philippines and project implementation will be led by national meteorological agency PAGASA.

Also onboard the project are the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Office of Civil Defense, World Food Programme, and the local government units of project sites.

The project board will also include the Climate Change Commission for oversight and implementation strategies.

Created through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010, the GCF provides funds to developing countries in support of climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives.

Over 100 projects, amounting to $5.2 billion, had been approved by the GCF. These endeavors aim to improve the resilience of 310 million people across the globe and prevent the emission of 1.5 billion tons of carbon. —Dona Magsino/NB, GMA News