Together with Mayor Barthélémy Toye Dias of Dakar, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte participated in the C40 World Mayors Summit Panel titled “Financing Adaptation in the Global South Now.”
According to Mayor Belmonte, Quezon City’s challenges are comparable to those of other urbanized cities. Climate change is just one of the numerous issues that the city is dealing with, aside from poverty, learning crisis, and violence against women.
The mayor emphasized that with the help of C40, the government of the United Kingdom, and non-governmental organizations, Quezon City has established a Climate Change Action Plan. But the lack of financial resources to fully implement these plans is still a major challenge.
Mayor Belmonte laid out the steps taken by the local government along with the City Council to declare a climate emergency in 2019. Through this, the city was able to mobilize resources for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
