Makati City Mayor Abby Binay announced on Monday, Sept. 26, that the city has been chosen as the Disaster Cluster leader of CityNet, the largest association of urban stakeholders aiming to promote sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.
According to Binay, CityNet's Disaster Cluster convened in September where the city has once again expressed its interest in serving the cluster after being its co-lead for four years. After the meeting, Makati City was also elected to become the vice-president of CityNet for 2023-2026 together with Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
As the president of CityNet's National Cluster in the country, Binay said Makati City will continue to improve and strengthen its disaster risk reduction and management capabilities and share its knowledge to other local government units (LGUs) in the country.
The mayor added that she aims to make Makati City become the very first Resiliency Hub in the country and the whole Southeast Asia for it to become an inspiration to other LGUs in creating their very own disaster risk reduction and management plans, climate action, and sustainability initiatives.
On August 5, Binay sounded the alarm and declared a state of climate emergency in the city as she called for a whole-of-society approach in responding to the still growing issues in terms of climate change in the country and in the world.
“As temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, low-lying coastal areas in cities like Makati have become more vulnerable to strong typhoons that bring floods and landslides. This will result not only in the disruption of public services but also the displacement of families and even entire communities,” Binay said during a webinar organized by the Makati Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO).
Based on data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), there has been a 0.75 degrees Celsius increase in the country’s annual temperature over the past 70 years and by 2050, the temperature increase is expected to reach as high as 1.8 degrees Celsius.
Binay laid out her administration’s programs and initiatives aiming to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in the city which includes the procurement of electric vehicles (e-vehicles) to be used by the city government, the installation of solar panels in public schools and government offices to minimize energy consumption, and ensuring the continuity of services during calamities.
“We call upon everyone to come together and act now. We must ensure aggressive application of the whole-of-society approach in combating climate change. We heard the data. We understood the science. And we are feeling its impact. Now is a crucial time to act, and we need to act fast. We need thinkers, doers, and movers,” Binay said.
“The time for action is now. As the new breed of Makatizens and global citizens, it is our responsibility to take care of our city and ensure that it remains a livable place for future generations. We must promote sustainability and climate consciousness in all our actions. We must be the change we want to see in our city and the world,” she added.
According to the city government, Makati has been investing in state-of-the-art disaster equipment and distributing emergency go bags and hard hats to residents, public school students, and City Hall workers to promote disaster preparedness since 2017.
It also strictly implements the Solid Waste Management Code, Makati Green Building Code, plastic ban among households and business establishments, ban on cigarette smoking, Anti-Smoke Belching Ordinance, and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Ordinance.