Solution The assessment informed the formulation of land use strategies and development options. According to Mayor Leovic Dioneda, “...calamities became the entry point to Sorsogon City’s openness to climate change adaptation and mitigation, prompting a review of local plans to make them risk sensitive”. Sorsogon City’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) aimed to direct urban expansion to safer and inland areas while restricting the occupation of high-risk zones; and protecting existing built-up areas, prime agricultural land and environmental assets through the application of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation measures. An important factor for success was the involvement of representatives from the local government, national government agencies, civil society organizations and barangay officials in the process of updating the plans. Stakeholders agreed on the need to raise the awareness of Sorsogon City’s constituents on climate change mitigation and adaptation and to reduce greenhouse gas emission by cutting down energy consumption and using cleaner technologies. To raise awareness, climate change will be included in the curriculum for tertiary schools, while education and communication campaigns have been conducted through local radio and television stations. The campaigns motivated 100 city employees, 300 students from 5 schools, and 80 city scholars to provide input to the climate change action plan. Sorsogon City’s main mode of public transport is the tricycle (motorcycle with sidecar) and of the more than 3,000 of them on the streets, around 40 per cent have 2-stroke engines. To reduce GHG emissions, the City Council is finalizing an ordinance to replace 50 per cent of them with 4-stroke engines within five years. In addition, about 100 conventional street lighting fixtures have been replaced with energy efficient LED lamps.
Results It is expected that about 22,000 families’ vulnerability to the impact of climate change will be reduced over time as the land use comprehensive development plans are implemented. Adaptation measures for housing will improve the resilience of about 30,000 dwellings that are vulnerable to typhoon damage, thus saving about USD 3.3 million in housing reconstruction costs annually. Settlements in high-risk coastal zones will be incrementally relocated inland, either through local shelter relocation projects or through voluntary resettlement according to the city’s Local Shelter Plan. To make urban expansion areas attractive to settlers and investors, safe, non-primary agricultural sites will be reclassified as neighbourhood development nodes that will be supported by infrastructure investments. “Climate change and disaster sensitized local plans helped us create a guide for city development” Mayor Leovic Dioneda According to Dioneda, “Climate change and disaster sensitized local plans helped us to create a guide for city development.” Leading by example, the Sorsogon City Hall, which was destroyed by a tropical storm, was relocated to a low-risk urban expansion area. In the same area, the local government has allotted one hectare of land for the relocation of about 500 informal settler families, and there are plans to build residential units for 200 city employees in the vicinity of the city hall. A coconut juice factory that creates employment for up to 700 workers has been given planning consent within the area, creating opportunities for local economic development. The Comprehensive Development Plan also foresees the construction of a transport terminal, a convention centre and an education facility in the urban expansion area.
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