PHILIPPINES Typhoons and floods, Manila loses 5% of its agricultural production every year

A study places the Philippines fourth among the nations most affected by water-related disasters. An average annual loss of 0.7% of GDP due to climate change is calculated. At this very moment there is alarm over the coincidence of tropical depression Gardo and super typhoon Hinnamnor.

Manila () – Precisely today, when the Day for the Custody of Creation is celebrated – as Pope Francis recalled yesterday – the Philippines has to face the simultaneous presence in the northern regions of the archipelago of tropical depression Gardo and of the super typhoon Hinnamnor (“Henry” according to the Philippine classification). So far it is the largest typhoon of 2022, with predicted winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour and a destructive potential similar to that of category 5 hurricanes in the North American region. Although these phenomena are recurrent in the history of the Philippines, at this time the anomalies are evident because the evolution and intensity of atmospheric phenomena are increasingly unpredictable.

These circumstances have reopened the internal debate on the accentuated fragility of the archipelago. A new study, with updated data, shows the environmental risks and the economic costs. The latter are of radical importance, especially for a country that is far from being fully developed and that last year registered a total Gross Domestic Product of 394 billion dollars, of which 31.4 correspond to remittances from emigrants. .

The economic consequences of the growing harassment of potentially devastating atmospheric phenomena is quantified at 124 billion dollars by mid-century, with an average annual loss of 0.7% of GDP. In the same study (“Aquanomics: The economics of water risk and future resilience”), published by the global professional services company GHD, the Philippines ranks fourth in the world among the countries most affected by water-related disasters, with about twenty typhoons of great intensity that cause torrential rains and great floods.

No economic sector is safe, but at the moment agricultural production is already under pressure, and will be increasingly so, with estimated losses of 5% per year by 2030 and 8% in 2050, considering that the current contribution of agriculture exceeds 10% of the national wealth produced.

Water supply and management in the Philippines is currently under great pressure, with 3 million inhabitants using unsafe water sources and another 7 million lacking access to adequate hygienic-sanitary services. Other priorities refer to the protection of risk areas and the reinforcement of prevention and assistance services for affected populations. From this point of view, the improvement has been remarkable, especially after the devastation caused by Typhoon Hayan in November 2013. National and local emergency services are now operating in the areas most exposed to the fury of the water and wind.