Dr. Rodel Lasco, executive director of the OML Center was a featured panelist at The Round Table: Regenerative Ecosystems for Climate Resilience and Pandemic Recovery webinar on December 3, 2020. The event was organized by Green Releaf Initiative, a non-profit organization advocating for regenerative solutions in communities affected by disaster and displacement.

Speaking at the “Enabling Large Scale Climate Resilient Ecosystems” panel, Dr. Lasco shared highlights of recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) showing impacts of the changing climate on land and ocean, driving risks to food systems, and human and ecosystem health, among others. To enable climate-resilient systems, Dr. Lasco underscored the need for coordinated action.

Dr. Lasco also shared the OML Center’s series of advisories on the combined risks of extreme weather and COVID-19, surfacing important adjustments that the local and national government must consider to effectively address multiple hazards. 

In the same panel, Commonland CEO Willem Ferweda provided a background of the organization and how it has created a framework for enabling large scale ecosystem restoration, highlighting the importance of biodiversity in decreasing risks and increasing resilience. 

A separate panel on Biodiversity Conservation, with the theme “Pandemic and Climate Solutions”, featured  environmental lawyer Atty. Ipat Luna and Wetlands International Country Representative Dr. Annadel Cabanban.

The webinar was co-organized by Food Gardens Movement PH, the Embassy of the Netherlands in the Philippines, and Commonland Foundation. It is the first of a series of discussions on designing regenerative systems.  

A recording of the discussion is available via the Facebook page of Green Releaf