A race against time and against ourselves. Against the dangerous idea that we can’t do this, that there is no way.
Unlike most races, it won’t have one winner. In this race we all win, or we all lose. Winning it requires a radical, unprecedented level of collaboration, from all corners of our world. From our cities, businesses, regions and investors. From people everywhere.
Together we’re racing for a better world. A zero carbon and resilient world. A healthier, safer, fairer world. A world of wellbeing, abundance and joy, where the air is fresher, our jobs are well-paid and dignified, and our future is clear.
To get there we need to run fast, and get faster. We need more and more people to join the race, and right now. This is not about 2050, it’s about today.
Together, we can do this. And we’re already on our way.
Building community resilience with Green Gray Infrastructure in Concepcion, Philippines
By Climate Champions | October 3, 2022
Location & Region: Philippines, Asia Pacific
Partner: Global Mangrove Alliance
Implementer: Conservation International
Area and sector: Coastal / Infrastructure, Nature-based solutions
The Municipality of Concepcion is located in the northern part of Panay Island, the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, formed by more than 25 island villages. This coastal area is exposed to the effects of climate change, from more intense dry seasons to extreme storms and typhoons, affecting the livelihoods of local communities.
In 2013, Hurricane Yolanda hit the islands devastating its population. According to Lorene Gabayeron, a community leader from Bagongon Concepcion “when the typhoon struck our community was not prepared, in an instant we lost our livelihoods, our property was destroyed.”
Reduce the effects of extreme weather events on residents living in the Bagongon cove.
The project uses a combination of wave attenuation fences, sediment trapping fences, low-crest semi-permeable breakwater as grey solutions, and mangrove restoration and the establishment of a community-based Marine Protected Area (MPA) as green solutions. So far, a total of 110,363 seedlings of native species have been planted covering an area of 11 hectares of mangrove rehabilitation and establishing a 769.7-hectare community-based marine protected area (CB-MPA), which included capacity building and training.
The community has been directly engaged in the restoration and implementation of the project. As part of the effort to incentivize community participation, two livelihood projects were included: the production of coconut-based products and the production of virgin coconut oil (VCO) as liniment and ointment. This supports the community which is heavily reliant on fishing to diversify their income, and increasing resilience during typhoons, monsoons and other extreme weather events that affect fishing.
The project also supported the community in establishing a Barangay Emergency Response Center and emergency response plans.
“We did not have an appropriate system [Emergency Response Plan] like this before, as we were not actively engaged as a community, but we were able to achieve this now through the participation of our members and community (…) Now we believe we are more prepared to face the challenges of Climate change,” Vivian Amasan, Community Leader Bagongon Fisherfolks Association.
The Race to Resilience (R2R) has launched a new tool to help support the campaign’s mission to increase the resilience of four billion people living in vulnerable communities.
A new initiative launched at COP26 is already enhancing the livelihoods of farming families and restoring degraded agricultural land across six countries – Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
All actors and initiatives play their part in shipping’s transition and collectively come together to achieve a common goal to decarbonize shipping in line with the 1.5°C trajectory of the Paris Agreement. Read our joint statement.
New signatories are joining the Race to Resilience daily. Our city and subnational government signatories have more than doubled since COP26, from 30 signatories at COP26 in 2021 after the launch, to over 70 at COP27, with more cities and subnational governments pledging to join the global campaign every day.