Empowering community-based climate action. The local community, youth leaders, and students join the Climate Change Commission (CCC), led by Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje, in a tree-growing activity in Santa Fe, Cebu to strengthen local climate resilience.

SANTA FE, Cebu — Santa Fe, Cebu youth leaders, students, farmers, and fisherfolk underscored the importance of planting and caring for trees for resilience and sustainability in the Climate Change Commission (CCC) tree-growing activity for promoting ecosystem-based adaptation. 

The activity planted a total of 33 Molave saplings, a native tree species that aids to advance community-driven, nature-based solutions in localizing climate action in vulnerable island towns like Santa Fe.

The initiative reflects continuing collaboration between the CCC and local government units in Cebu aimed at reducing vulnerability and localizing climate preparedness across island municipalities.

“This activity demonstrates how local action, especially with strong youth participation, can deliver tangible climate solutions on the ground,” said CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje. “Beyond planting trees, we are planting the seeds of education and values formation that are building a generation of Filipinos with a keen sense of respect, responsibility, and stewardship for nature and ecology.”

“Climate resilience is ultimately built by people through informed communities, empowered youth, and leaders willing to act decisively,” Borje emphasized. “If we nurture both our ecosystems and our values today, we secure not only stronger landscapes but also a more climate-resilient nation for generations to come.

Highlighting the importance of community involvement in climate action, Tristan James N. Pacilan, a student leader from Supreme Secondary Learner Government of Santa Fe National High School, said that when small efforts bind together, these kinds of activities will make a big impact. 

“As someone who has experienced the wrath of a disaster, it is important to realize that it is also us, the people at the community level, who are also one of the root causes of the problem. So now, with the Supreme Secondary Learner Government joining this small initiative of planting trees, we believe that our micro efforts will grow a macro effect,” Pacilan said. 

Since 2022, the Commission has been actively involved in tree-growing activities and leading reforestation initiatives, such as the Net Zero Challenge. Currently, the Commission has planted approximately 6,000 trees, with the most recent efforts held in the provinces of Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao, as part of its commitment to localize climate action.

The initiative also supports the Philippine government’s broader climate and development agenda under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and aligns with the country’s National Adaptation Plan, which strengthens resilience through diverse strategies such as reforestation and tree planting activities amid climate change.

These activities form part of the support of the CCC in the provinces to mainstream climate change, strengthen stewardship education, and build leadership across generations.

The CCC continues to work closely with the local governments and communities to accelerate climate resilience, strengthen carbon sequestration efforts, and advance the country’s transition toward a climate-smart and sustainable future.

For more information on the CCC’s climate mainstreaming activities, visit www.climate.gov.ph and www.facebook.com/CCCPhl.