The successive typhoons that have hit our shores over the past few months have caused massive damage to communities and the significant loss of lives. We have witnessed heartbreaking scenes of homes being swept away, millions worth of crops destroyed, and families wondering how to rebuild.

This is the difficult truth we cannot ignore: climate change is affecting every aspect of life in the Philippines. Each storm that has struck our country is a painful reminder of how vulnerable our nation has become, especially in areas that are already burdened by conflict, poverty, and underdevelopment.

But what often goes unnoticed is how these typhoons have deepened the fragility and heightened tensions on the ground. When a disaster takes away people’s livelihood, competition over limited resources intensifies and peace becomes more difficult to sustain. Climate change has now become a peace and security concern.

This is why the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that was forged between the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) and the Alliance of Bioversity International and The International Center For Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), through its Consultative Group On International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), during the recent 5th Peace Research Conference is crucial to our agency as we carry out the challenging task of building on and sustaining the gains of peace across the country.

CGIAR is among the world’s largest agricultural research consortia, with more than 9,000 researchers working across 89 countries. Its expertise has guided governments and institutions in addressing interconnected challenges in agriculture, food systems, water resources, biodiversity, and climate resilience.

Adam Savelli, Regional Lead for Asia-Pacific on the CGIAR Climate Security Team, explained that their work is about finding solutions.

“At the Alliance, we specialize in researching how land, water, and food systems can address the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and malnutrition,” Savelli said.

Crucially, their work is not just theoretical. “Our work on these topics is classified as research-for-development,” he added. “...while the work is scientifically rigorous... our ultimate goal is for our science to support humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding actors on the ground,” Savelli added.

What drew OPAPRU to CGIAR is how deeply aligned their mission is with the peacebuilding work that we do at the agency. The group understands the significant link between climate change, mobility, food security, and conflict.

CGIAR recognizes that environmental stress can heighten tensions and that strengthening agriculture and land management can help prevent such tensions from escalating. They conduct research primarily to support communities, humanitarian workers, development actors and peacebuilders.

In Mindanao, CGIAR’s studies have identified clear pathways showing how climate pressures can fuel conflict and how climate adaptation can support peace. These insights have been invaluable to OPAPRU, especially as we work to bring peace and development in former conflict-affected areas and conflict-vulnerable communities.

This partnership is a reminder that peace must be anchored in food security, stable livelihoods, sustainable ecosystems, and resilience against climate shocks. If families cannot eat because drought or flooding has destroyed farmlands, government programs that aim to foster peace and economic growth can fully take root.

The devastation left by the latest typhoons reinforces this point. Many of the communities we serve that include indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolk, and former combatants are among the most vulnerable to climate risks. This is why we must ensure that peacebuilding strategies integrate environmental and climate issues from the very start of their implementation.

Through a partnership between CGIAR and OPAPRU’s Philippine Peace Institute, we have already published our first jointly authored Policy Brief on Climate, Peace, and Security in Mindanao. This is just the start of our collaborative effort. We are building an ambitious research agenda that will guide our policy and program decisions in the coming years.

I am, therefore, deeply grateful that CGIAR recognizes the value of the work we at OPAPRU do, and that they are willing to walk alongside us in strengthening the resilience of Filipino communities. This is because our institutions are guided by the same belief that peacebuilding and climate resilience must go hand in hand.

But what truly inspires me is the shared commitment behind this partnership. We are co-creating solutions that combine science, policy, and peace. We are ensuring that communities have access not only to knowledge, but to practical tools that can help them adapt to climate change while strengthening social cohesion.

In his speech at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said: “In the face of drastic climate challenges, we must call for a safer, inclusive, adaptive, and disaster-resilient future...We must innovate, collaborate, and engage the private sector to establish effective disaster risk reduction policies."

As Peace Adviser, I believe that peace must be a whole-of-nation effort. All sectors must work together. We must listen to farmers, fisherfolk, women, youth, and indigenous peoples. These are among the most affected by climate and conflict. We need to go beyond traditional approaches and use science-based approaches to shape policies and programs.

This is what makes our partnership with CGIAR critical and powerful. It is a forward-looking alliance that is grounded in the reality that the peace initiatives that we implement will largely depend on how we navigate and address the challenges that arise as a result of climate change.

I thank CGIAR for answering our call to partner with our agency. And I thank and commend the Filipino people for their strength, resilience, and unwavering hope. Together, we shall work together to ensure that even in a time of climate uncertainty, our pursuit of a just and lasting peace is anchored in science, compassion, and a collective resolve to move forward.