The Philippines is an archipelagic country composed of over 7,000 islands with a total land area of approximately 300,000 square meters. The country’s strategic location, along with the rich and distinct characteristics of its islands, make the Philippines a hotspot for biological diversity. However, these elements which provide the Philippines with ecological wealth are also responsible for making the country one of the most disaster-prone, and most environmentally threatened in the world. The country is also marked with frequent occurrence of typhoons, presence of active volcanoes, and a high seismological activity which all pose a risk not just to the well being and livelihood of its people, but also to the quality of the natural environment. Variations in rain levels and more intense typhoons cause flooding in various areas in the Philippines, bringing destruction to both life and property.
The Global Shelter Cluster (GSC), co-chaired by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), recognizes the environment as a cross-cutting issue for effective shelter and settlements response. The GSC has acknowledged that humanitarian operations can have substantial negative environmental impacts and is committed to increasing the understanding on environmental issues that operational teams face to minimise the impact of response activities and mitigate risk to shelter and settlements. The GSC received financial contributions from USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and DG ECHO to enhance the capacity and quality of the humanitarian shelter and settlements response, and a part of this funding has been used to develop this Environmental Country Profile (ECP). Australian Red Cross has also provided financial and technical support, under a shared leadership agreement with IFRC for shelter cluster preparedness in Asia Pacific.
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