The University of the Philippines (UP) Resilience Institute (UP RI) – Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH) Center joined the 6th National Youth Environmental Summit at the Teacher’s Camp in Baguio City last April 22 to 24, 2024. The event coincides with the global celebration of Earth Day with the theme: “Enhancing Collaboration among National Government Agencies, LGUs, Academe, Civil Society, and Youth Organizations in the Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. It was attended by students from different schools and youth organizations around the country, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officers, Barangay Council members, disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) – climate change adaptation and mitigation (CCAM) personnel and officers from different local government units (LGUs), and experts from the academe and other relevant civil society organizations.
The Benguet State University (BSU), in partnership with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), hosted the event which was endorsed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the National Youth Commission (NYC), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), the Climate Change Commission (CCC), and National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC). Members of Green Philippines, delegates of previous summits, and student leaders from Benguet State University also volunteered to organize and facilitate the event. The summit aims to improve the leadership and communication skills of the participants by introducing the Green concepts. This would allow the participants to enhance their awareness and be trained as Green Ambassadors who will later on initiate activities and projects that are relevant in contributing to the global efforts in mitigating the impact of climate change. With this, the Green Ambassadors will have the capability to actively talk to people and other organizations not only to raise their awareness on the state of the environment but also the possible threats of destructive human activities may bring forth to the environment.
Hon. Mayor Benjamin Magalong of Baguio City graced the event and gave his opening remarks on the first day of the summit. He mentioned the importance of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and focused on SDG 13, and the role of the youth sector in Climate Actions. Among the keynote speakers are Dr. Alfredo Mahar Francisco A. Lagmay, Executive Director of UP RI, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos, Jr., and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno.
Dr. Lagmay provided information about formulating the framework for resilience and disaster preparedness while Usec. Nepomuceno highlighted the roles of the youth sector in DRRM-CCAM particularly in earthquake preparedness. Sec. Benhur Abalos talked about the importance of the collaboration of different agencies to attain the SDGs. Other keynote speakers and dignitaries present were Felizardo “Zards” Colambo, President of the Alliance for Green Philippines, DILG Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Felicito A. Valmocina, DILG Project Development Management Undersecretary Odilon Pasaraba, Regional Director of DILF Cordillera Araceli San Jose, and Financial Literacy expert and businessman, Mr. Peter Sing.
Panel discussions on the first day included the topics of Waste Management and Environmental Pollution, Ecology and Land Use and Environmental Assessment, Climate Change and Disaster Resilience, Agriculture and Food Security, and Sustainability and Renewable Energy. During the second day of the summit, the participants were involved in different workshops about Circular Economy: Repurposing Waste into Usable Products and Clean-up Drive, Growing Community Roots: Community Gardening/Organic Gardening (Seed Bank), Eco-visions: Crafts from Scraps, and Assessing Environmental Risks for Sustainable Practices. The participants from the youth sector shared their learnings and summit experiences, particularly their inputs and best practices for enhancing community preparedness and resilience on the third day.
Researchers from the UP RI – NOAH Center namely Ada Reyes and Alex Rivera of the Hazard Assessment Team (HAT), Ella Danielle Santiaguel, Janiella Sandoval, and EnP. Arge Louise Esquivel of the Planning Component, and Raymund Tirol of the Flood Modeling Component (FMC) were among the volunteers. They facilitated the generation of the output, which are guidelines in creating action plans to improve their communities and attain the SDGs. The researchers also provided a brief presentation on the activities of UP RI and gave a demonstration of how to navigate the NOAH website.
