Climate change and Resiliency of Filipinos

 A major factor driving environmental change in the Philippines is greenhouse gas emissions arising from energy, transportation, and industrial activities. The country remains heavily reliant on fossil fuels coal, oil, and increasingly natural gas for electricity generation and transportation. This not only contributes to global warming but also exacerbates local heat extremes, air pollution, and energy insecurity. For many Filipinos, especially in urban and peri-urban areas, this manifests as more frequent heatwaves, poorer air quality, and growing health risks.

The loss of natural barriers heightens vulnerability: when intense rains come, mudslides and flooding are more severe; in dry spells, droughts worsen; moreover, ecosystems and species lose habitat, undermining biodiversity and livelihoods that depend on natural resources.

 Changes in rainfall patterns and extreme weather events are becoming more pronounced due to climate change. The Philippines faces stronger and more frequent typhoons, more concentrated heavy rain events, and also more severe drought episodes (often connected to El Niño). This dual threat too much water at times, too little at others disrupts agriculture, damages infrastructure, causes flooding, displaces people, and reduces food security.

Another is sea level rise and coastal degradation, to which the archipelagic and coastal geography of the Philippines makes it especially susceptible. As sea levels rise (driven by thermal expansion of oceans and melting ice), coastal communities face storm surges, saline intrusion into freshwater sources, erosion of coastal lands, and loss of property. Many Filipinos live in coastal zones; thus, the impacts are immediate in terms of housing, livelihoods (especially fishing and aquaculture), and community displacement.