None of the poverty reduction or health improvement programs in the Philippines takes any account of the impact of climate change. Yet at the 2007 Bali UN Climate Change Conference, the Philippines were the highest placed country in a new Global Climate Risk Index. This recognized that during 2006 extreme weather events accounted for 3,000 deaths and widespread destruction by mudslides and typhoons. The country has always been prone to natural disasters and the prospect of increased frequency and intensity spurred Greenpeace to publish a special report on the impact of climate change in the Philippines. Apart from extreme weather, there is concern that increasing temperature will affect agricultural yields and food security, whilst rising sea levels threaten over 40 million people who live in coastal regions.
The government has responded by establishing the President's Task Force on Climate Change which will consider mitigation as well as adaptation. For example, fatal landslides such as that in Leyte in early 2006 have been blamed on widespread deforestation, prompting the authorities to take rapid action against illegal loggers and to instigate massive tree replanting schemes.
