22 September 2022, BRISBANE – Philippine Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) the Honorable Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga reaffirmed the Philippines’ commitment to prioritizing risk reduction and climate action amidst economic and strategic challenges at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR).

At the Ministerial Forum held on 19 September, Secretary Loyzaga stated, “Compound and cascading hazards and fragile systems urgently require fundamental shifts towards all-hazards, whole-of-society, transdisciplinary, and systems approaches to preventive risk governance that is inclusive, responsive, and adaptive.” The Secretary is the Head of the Philippine delegation to the APMCDRR 2022 composed of government officials and representatives from the private sector and civil society.

The Government of Australia and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) are co-hosting the APMCDRR 2022 from 19 to 22 September at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Conference is the largest Asia-Pacific biennial gathering focused on disaster risk reduction, resilience, and the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

As a Panelist at the Plenary Session on Risk Informed Investments and Scaling Up Financing for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Secretary underscored that resilience is everyone’s business and highlighted the role of the private sector in ensuring that resilience is a core business value. She cited examples of corporations in the Philippines that have embedded resilience investments in their main operations and supply and value chains.

The Philippines’ vulnerabilities to disasters and the progress achieved by the country in preventing and responding to disasters through robust public private partnership have been recognized by government and civil society representatives in the APMCDRR. The Philippines committed to continue to strengthen its regional engagement to ensure the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.