By JC Yokingco and AV Gabriel

Date Posted: June 23, 2015

OML Center researchers Ana Veronica Gabriel and John Colin Yokingco will present at the Regional Forum on Climate Change (RFCC) which will be held at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Conference Center at Bangkok, Thailand on 1 – 3 July 2015. The forum will focus on the theme of “Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Societies: Bridging Science, Practice and Policy”with thematic sessions on climate science, climate and disaster, governance and policy, climate financing, and cross-cutting studies.  Approximately 300 scientists, practitioners, civil societies, non-government organizations, public and private sectors, and policy makers, among others are expected to attend the said event.

Gabriel will present as a platform speaker during the technical session on “Mainstreaming Climate Change.” She will present one of the study outputs of the Asia Pacific Network (APN)-funded project on loss and damage, climate change adaptation (CCA), and disaster risk reduction (DRR). The study that will be presented is entitled “Linking loss and damage with CCA and DRR in the Philippines.” This study will present initial findings on the loss and damage assessment system in the Philippines, and national challenges and recommended solutions on the system in relation with CCA and DRR.

Meanwhile, Yokingco will provide a poster presentation called “Mapping of appropriate rice cultivation zones for flood-affected areas in Apalit, Pampanga using LiDAR and LISFLOOD-FP.” The poster presents the results of the OML Center banner project entitled “Flood inundation modelling using LiDAR and GIS” (FIMULG). The presentation will highlight the use of powerful technologies such as LiDAR and flood modelling in aiding rice farmers to adapt to climate related events such as flooding.

This year, France will be hosting the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which aims to produce a new international climate agreement which will apply to all countries by 2020. However, achieving a consensus on the agreement among countries is difficult as learned from the Warsaw Conference (COP 19). In order to lay the foundation for global level talks between countries, a broader framework for dialogues between relevant stakeholders must be developed. RFCC 2015 seeks to enhance this area of communication between stakeholders particularly those from the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It also seeks to create a platform for discussions to ease the translation of science into practice and policy and offer ASEAN negotiators a venue to build positions of increased ambition prior to the COP 21.

The forum will be hosted by AIT in collaboration with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, ASEAN, and the European Union (EU).

For more information on the forum and COP 21 please see the links provided below:

RFCC – http://www.rfcc2015.ait.asia/

COP 21 – http://www.cop21paris.org/about/cop21