Dagupan, Philippines – According to a new Stimson Center CORVI climate risk assessment, Dagupan City, Philippines, is increasingly vulnerable to flooding, water security issues, and extreme weather events which negatively impact the city’s coastal and marine ecosystems and the health of its citizens. These threats may also affect Dagupan’s future economic growth and its position as a regional hub for commerce, education, and health services. The report recommends that local leaders prioritize solid waste and wastewater management and renewable energy development, update aging infrastructure, integrate nature into its solutions, improve water quality and supply, and create a more sustainable and diverse blue economy. Read the full report.
CORVI is a decision support tool for leaders to help prioritize investment and action where it’s need most to improve the safety and security of coastal cities. CORVI takes an integrated approach focusing on connected climate risks from land to sea. It uses more than 100 different ecological, financial, and social risk factors to produce a coastal city risk profile and make concrete recommendations for building climate resilience. More about CORVI.
In Dagupan, the CORVI team worked closely with dozens of local and subject matter experts to generate recommendations for city leaders. The Dagupan assessment was conducted in partnership with Ecosensya Solutions for Environmental Sustainability and the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
Sally Yozell, Senior Fellow and Director of the Environmental Security Program at the Stimson Center, said: “Dagupan City is on the front line of climate change. Its fast-growing economy and population are increasingly vulnerable to climate impacts such as severe floods and saltwater intrusion – caused by more extreme storms, heavy rainfall, and rising sea levels. CORVI’s unique integrated approach offers insights and recommendations on how Dagupan City can address these climate impacts, with innovative projects that reduce waste and provide new sources of energy as well as mangrove restoration that provides habitat for fish, helps stabilize shorelines and filters pollutants. These are just some of actions that can build coastal resilience and help create a vibrant sustainable blue economy for Dagupan’s people.”
Dr. Hide Sakaguchi, President of the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation said: “Saving the ocean is not a task for tomorrow, it’s a responsibility for today.”
Queenie Cunanan, President of Ecosensya Solutions for Environmental Sustainability said: “Reviving the ecological landscape is the key in safeguarding the now by working with nature and communities to ensure the future.”
Detailed Findings and Recommendations
Key Findings
CORVI identified five priority risks for Dagupan City:
- Exacerbated flooding risks –The city’s water network makes up 14% of its entire land area with seven rivers, 14 creeks, and many agricultural fish pens. Dagupan City’s geographic location, in combination with a reduction in mangroves and changing climate patterns, place the area at high risk from excess floodwaters.
- Threats to water security issues – Changes in climate patterns and limited infrastructure have led to a decline in potable water supplies. Extreme weather events have resulted in the drying of artesian wells, while limited waste treatment and sanitation infrastructure have led to water pollution.
- Intensifying extreme weather events – As changes in climate patterns lead to intensified extreme weather events, major industries including tourism, fishing, and aquaculture are increasingly at risk. These extreme weather events include typhoons, monsoons, and extreme heat events.
- Vulnerable coastal and marine ecosystem – Coastal erosion and a lack of natural aquatic protections highlight the vulnerability of ecosystems in the area. The lack of seagrass beds, coastal sand dunes, and coral reefs leaves the city’s coast vulnerable to erosion. Marine habitats and the shoreline are also supported by mangroves, which have declined in coverage due to illegal cutting.
- Limited waste treatment infrastructure for both industrial waste and residential sanitation. With no city-wide sewage treatment facility and inadequate solid waste management, debris and water pollution from informal river dumping of household waste and from the fishing industry pose risks to human health and the economy, via clogged canals, increased flooding, land subsidence, and the contamination of bangus (also known as milkfish).
Recommendations
Based on the assessment of the ecological, financial, and social/political climate risks that Dagupan City faces, the CORVI risk profile includes three priority recommendations to build climate, environmental, and industrial resilience, plan for systemic risks, continue the city’s economic growth, and improve the health and safety of its citizens. These recommendations are targeted toward the National and Dagupan City government, the private sector, civil societies, and international funders:
- Institutionalize climate resiliency project planning and implementation to reduce flood risks, sustain economic growth, and improve human health and safety. The executive and legislative branches of the city government should cooperate to pass policies and multi-year budgets that prioritize sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy projects. These projects could encompass both nature-based and constructed developments focused on flood mitigation measures, reducing waste through sustainable management systems, and strengthening coastlines through green building codes and replanting of mangroves. The city can also strengthen involvement from the national government and public and private sectors by integrating more diverse stakeholders early on in climate-resilience projects to improve long-term buy-in.
- Implement decentralized nature-based solutions for wastewater treatment and groundwater recharging in vulnerable communities. Toimprove waterquality, Dagupan City should work towards the construction of the centralized wastewater treatment plant while investing in nature-based wastewater management systems to supplement the treatments until the plant is operational. A priority should be given to Implementing nature-based plans that address the waning groundwater supply for communities that are unable to connect to the water district. The City Planning and Development Office, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office should work together to create policies that promote sanitation. All of this would assist in improving water quality while reducing climate-related risks to communities vulnerable to water pollution.
- Improve the sustainability and diversity of the city’s blue economy industries. To ensure climate resilience as climate change threatens key industries in Dagupan, the city government should increase outreach and education to the population on practices related to sustainable coastal management, such as sustainable fishing, replanting mangroves, and the hazards of overfishing and overstocking. Diversifying coastal tourism beyond the staple of bangus (also known as milkfish) to other beach, marine and cultural activities would also allow businesses and food suppliers to reduce the probability of upstream risks disrupting entire economies.
About CORVI
CORVI is a decision support tool for leaders who need to make smart climate investments to improve the safety and security of coastal cities. Currently operating in eleven coastal cities around the world, CORVI organizes data and information across the land and seascape to provide decision makers with the complete risk picture they need to take action.
This CORVI assessment was conducted with support from the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
Visit https://www.stimson.org/project/corvi/ for more information.
Ecosenya Solutions for Environmental Sustainability is an environmental consultancy firm advocating sustainable management of the environment, and a pioneer in designs that build with nature. Our focus is on reviving landscapes through Permaculture Water Cycle Restoration and Management in the Philippines for ecological remediation.
The Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation is a preeminent research institute that specializes in ocean policy and governance. With a steadfast commitment to advancing ocean sustainability and safeguarding the health of our oceans, OPRI has established itself as a foremost authority in the field, providing insightful research, capacity development, and policy engagement to further effective and sustainable ocean governance.
The Stimson Center promotes international security, shared prosperity & justice through applied research and independent analysis, deep engagement, and policy innovation. The Stimson Center’s Environmental Security program explores the array of environmental threats, both human and natural, that the potential to undermine national, regional, or global security.
More at www.stimson.org
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