Legarda Invites LGUs to Join Inaugural CLAD Award

Senator Loren Legarda today encouraged resilient cities and municipalities to join the inaugural Climate-Adaptive and Disaster-Resilient Cities and Municipalities (CLAD) Award during the launch of the program at the Climate Change Consciousness Week 2014 – LGU Summit.

The CLAD Award, initiated by Legarda and the Climate Change Commission, in partnership with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), will honor cities and municipalities that have excelled in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (CCA-DRR) by incorporating relevant laws in their local development plans.

“In our continuing quest to build a safe nation, we must look at exemplary efforts so that we may enjoin other communities to strengthen their resilience as well. We want to show our local government units (LGUs) that it can be done—we can fight climate change and we can save our communities from the threats of natural hazards,” said Legarda, UNISDR Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific and Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change.

Applicants for the CLAD Award 2014 should be cities and municipalities that have mainstreamed CCA-DRR into any local plans such as the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), and regular government operations and processes such as budgeting and programming.

The CLAD Award will be given to six outstanding LGUs. One city and one municipality will be selected in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Applicants will be judged according to the criteria based on the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change (NFSCC), the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) 2011-2028, and the UNISDR’s 10 Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient”, developed in line with the five priorities of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.

Winning LGUs will receive special recognition as CCA-DRR champions and will be prioritized for support under the People’s Survival Fund.

“Aside from the recognition, the award gives the winners that important role of engaging other leaders in disaster risk reduction efforts in international and local CCA-DRR events,” Legarda said.

The Award also seeks to encourage other LGUs to prioritize and emulate measures that enhance their respective communities’ and environment’s adaptive capacities.