Taking a step forward in adapting to climate change, the City of Manila, the Philippines’ capital, has chosen Komunidad’s Climate Operations Center to efficiently plan and prepare for the adverse effects of climate change.
Komunidad will power the city’s Climate-Smart Manila project, a science-based data-driven strategy empowering 897 barangays with natural disaster risk intelligence and early warning systems.
The system allows the barangays to have their own Weather Command Centers with 24/7 risk analysis, empowering officials to have localized weather assessments in their areas and be informed about weather risks that may affect schools, commercial districts, residences and other communities within the barangay.
Barangay officials will also receive parameter-based alerts via email, SMS and Viber to provide warnings in the event of heavy rains, extreme heat, lightning, dangerous thunderstorms, recent earthquakes, potential flooding and high mosquito activity.
Businesses will also be provided with high-quality, 24/7, location-based climate risk analysis reports.
Manila is a low-lying, densely populated capital city that lies squarely in the path of typhoons. Millions of families live near railroad tracks and waterways, rendering them defenseless against strong winds and storm surges.
Coastal areas are also becoming more vulnerable and exposed to the effects of climate change and rising sea levels, which are made worse by environmental degradation. Many parts of the Manila Bay have slowly been sinking due to climate-induced sea-level rise, putting more communities at risk of coastal floods.
“As temperatures continue to rise and the effects of climate change become more severe, the Philippines must move quickly to adapt to the new climatic reality or face significant costs, damages, and losses,” Komunidad founder and CEO Felix Ayque said.
Komunidad’s data experts are working with the Manila DRRMO to bring in a digital and data-driven transformation to reduce the city’s vulnerability to climate change and enhance its capacity to withstand the impacts.
Komunidad is dedicated to strengthening Asia’s resilience against climate change while fostering economic growth. The Komunidad platform enables businesses and communities to build and deploy their own decision support tools more effectively and sustainably by simplifying weather and climate data and making vital information extremely scalable.