The Philippine climate change assessment: impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation

This report is an assessment of the current understanding on climate change impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation in the Philippines. It focuses on ecosystems, freshwater resources, coastal systems and low-lying areas, agriculture and fisheries, and human health. The depth and breadth of assessment vary across chapters due to the uneven availability of literature specific to the Philippines. In cases where there are limited literatures specifically pertaining to the Philippines, the assessment of impacts and vulnerabilities to climate change in the country was inferred from published results of related studies in other countries.

To guide future research, each chapter presents recommended researchable areas considering the identified gaps as well as the uncertainties in climate change and the sectors that are covered in the report. While many published sources have been cited in this initial assessment, the findings acknowledge the need for further studies and validation on the impacts of climate change on various sectors, the degree and magnitude of current and future vulnerabilities, and the combination of adaptation options that can be best applied at various spatial and temporal scales. By encouraging researchers to sustain and magnify their ongoing research activities and eventually publish their work, more evidencebased knowledge can be translated into information that both science and policy communities can use to make wellinformed, scientifically sound, and strategic decisions.