Country risk climate profile: Philippines

This profile is intended to serve as a public good to facilitate upstream country diagnostics, policy dialogue, and strategic planning by providing comprehensive overviews of trends and projected changes in key climate parameters, sector-specific implications, relevant policies and programs, adaptation priorities and opportunities for further actions. The Philippines is an archipelago comprised of 7,107 islands (1,000 of which are inhabitable), with a humid climate and a topography characterized by mountainous terrain bordered by narrow coastal plains. The Philippines’ Climate Change Act was passed in 2009, which created the Climate Change Commission (CCC) as the lead policymaking body in the Philippines tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and action plans of the government relating to climate change. Important strategy documents include the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change (2010–2022) and the National Climate Change Action Plan (2011–2028), which sets out policies related to food and water security, environmental stability, human security, climate smart industries and services, sustainable energy, and knowledge and capacity development. The Philippines ratified the Paris Agreement on March 23, 2017 and submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions to the UNFCCC in 2016.

Key messages include: 

• Historical temperatures show a warming trend since the mid-20th century, with average annual mean temperature increasing by approximately 0.6°C and a significant increase in hot days and warm nights. These trends are similar to the Pacific region in general.
• The Philippines faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world, and these are projected to intensify as the climate changes. The country is especially exposed to tropical cyclones, flooding, and landslides.
• The number of tropical cyclones making landfall is steadily increasing, with tropical cyclones appearing to also have greater intensity.
• Without effective adaptation and disaster risk reduction, climate change is likely to exacerbate high existing levels of income and wealth inequality; poverty alleviation progress will be slowed.