TACLOBAN CITY – Borongan City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda has been invited by the United Nations (UN) to the first-ever Local Climate Action Summit at the Expo City in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in December. 

AGDA (FB)

The invitation recognizes the city government's efforts toward climate resilience, Agda said.

The Local Climate Action Summit is a component of the UN’s 28th annual Conference of Parties that will convene signatories of the 1992 UN Climate Agreement.

The summit is set to discuss solutions to the looming effects of climate change and unite hundreds of leaders to establish a new paradigm of fully integrated climate action among governments that is projected to transform local finance, integrate local contributions to enhance global action, fast-track local energy transition, and strengthen local resilience and adaptation. 

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solution, said that subnational governments have played an integral role in climate adaptation over the last decade. 

He noted that many cities have overtaken national governments when it comes to the reduction of their per capita carbon emissions. 

With Borongan joining the summit’s roster of participating local governments, the city is finally making a mark on the international scene regarding its climate resilience mechanisms, Agda said. 

Last month, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) joined Agda in launching the organization’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 in the city, formally setting the roadmap for Borongan’s acquisition of sustainable and modern energy by 2030.