As we welcome the new decade, we must also celebrate the achievements of the past one. 

In celebrating its 10^th year anniversary in 2022, the OML Center paid tribute to key climate actors, collaborators, and partners who, through the years, supported the Center’s mission of identifying gaps and advancing climate change knowledge and research in the Philippines. 

Capacity-building initiatives for local planners and key climate actors

To kick start the celebration, the OML Center gathered Local Government Units (LGUs) across the Philippines in September for a free virtual workshop on risk-based planning using two (2) decision-support tools co-produced by the OML Center.

During the session, LGU participants were given an opportunity to have a hands-on walk-through on how to use the eCCET Helper and Upturn Tool toward a more evidence-based planning approach to their local climate change action plans (LCCAP).

The eCCET Helper guides planners through the government’s Climate Change Expenditure Tagging (CCET) system. Established in 2017, it also serves as the Center’s initiative to translate the key messages of its Philippine Climate Change Assessment (PhilCCA) reports.

Meanwhile, Project Upturn provides a menu of climate adaptation practices that address localized climate impacts. It aims to identify and assess existing solutions in terms of different parameters based on the country’s climate change-associated risks and its potential contribution to overall resilience.

Apart from the workshop, the Center also hosted a symposium for climate actors to discuss the state of the Philippine climate and its impacts, and identify and address climate adaptation and climate information gaps in policy and action.

Finding solutions for coastal resilience

In September, the OML Center relaunched its Climate Resilience Challenge (CRC), finding remarkable proposals from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) on solutions serving coastal communities in the Philippines, including climate-resilient livelihoods, climate-resilient coastal and marine ecosystems, and reducing vulnerability against sea level rise.

CRC is a competition for innovative, interdisciplinary, and solution-oriented ideas to build and enhance resilience in the country.

From 22 submissions, the solutions have been narrowed down to the top nine. Awarding will take place later in the year.

Scientific Knowledge, Collaborations, and Partnerships: Celebrating a Decade of Impactful Research and Breakthrough Innovations

Capping its 10th-year celebration was the two-part ‘Pagpupugay at Pasasalamat sa Sampung Taong Pagsasama’ anniversary event. 

It featured a tree-planting activity in honor of the founders and key partners of the Center over the past decade. A total of 400 native forest trees were planted under the name of the Center’s namesake, Oscar M. Lopez, and other prime movers at the La Mesa Nature Reserve. It was the Center’s way of recognizing their tireless support, which has resulted in innovative scientific knowledge and initiatives that brought together diverse sectors to climate change.

The Center also organized an in-person Thanksgiving to acknowledge several of its staff who served as its cornerstones for the past decade through the presentation of the OMLC pin led by OML Center Executive Director Dr. Rodel D. Lasco.

The Thanksgiving event also paved the way for the awarding ceremony of the Center’s first Mga Kwento ng Klima Short Film competition. Short film ‘Dalaw’, directed by Eljay Deldoc of Underwater Playground, won Best Film and took home a cash prize of Php 50,000.  

OML Center Board of Trustees President, Richard B. Tantoco, graced the Thanksgiving event.
As the Center looks back on a decade of impactful research and breakthrough innovations, the Center continues to commit to working with key actors, collaborators and partners towards loosening the Climate Gordian Knot and helping  enable  more communities to become resilient to the impacts of climate change.