On November 19, the Department kicked-off the 18th Annual Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week celebration, which will run until November 25.
The Department of Agriculture (DA), through its Climate Resilient Agriculture Office (CRAO) and the Adaptation and Mitigation Initiative in Agriculture (AMIA) Program, intensifies calls for innovative, inclusive, and collective action toward a resilient, low-carbon future.
With the theme “New Philippines, New Resilient Nation: Innovative Movement for Climate and the Future,” this year’s celebration “speaks to the very heart of our mission. It is a call not just for awareness, but for action, not just for change, but for commitment,” as explained by DA-CRAO Director Agnes Catherine T. Miranda.
The event also formally launched the Climate Resilience Exhibit, which runs from November 17 to 21, featuring climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) projects. Visitors can also learn about the AMIA Program, a community-based resilience-building initiative; explore science-based tools that help assess climate vulnerabilities; and discover success stories and strategic partnerships that strengthen collective action.
As this year’s guest speaker, Pampanga 4th District Representative Dr. Anna York Bondoc highlighted her district’s experience in agriculture, noting its importance as a coastal community and a leading producer of aquaculture. She emphasized that despite the challenges of climate change, their aquaculture sector remains a billion-peso industry. She also underscored that the Philippines is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries due to its geography and topography.
Present at the event were DA key officials: Undersecretary and Chief-of-Staff Alvin John Balagbag; Undersecretary Roger Navarro; Undersecretary Nora Oliveros; Assistant Secretary U-Nichols Manalo; Director Michael Sollera; Director Karen Roscom; Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) Director Remelyn Recoter; and Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) Director Bernadette delos Reyes.
The event was supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific (JFPR), the Government of Japan, and EcoSecurities.
