Diosdado Luna, the Communications Officer gave an introduction about NATCCO. The orgaization has 915 coops nationwide. As of now, there are 7.1 Million members who are teachers, soliders, farmers, government employeesm etc. With a total of 314B assets from the coops, he quoted that “With great power comes greater responsibility” especially during natural disasters.
One of NATCCO’s advocacies is climate action as if the cooperative fails, the depositor’s confidence also goes down. It’s a challenge for cooperatives if there is a disaster as many people withdraw their money or ask for loans.
Lasalette Gumban (head of Diaspora and Climate Action Unit of NATCCO) further explalined the Effects of Climate Change on Livelihood and Economic Resilience.
NATCCO has a key objective of enhancing the quality of life of its members. In recent times, they have also directed their focus towards meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular emphasis on climate action. To this end, cooperatives have created an advocacy unit for climate action which has initiated several programs to promote it, such as disaster risk reduction programs, climate compliance in loan assessments, and Green Coop Award, among others.
However, cooperatives face several challenges due to the effects of climate change, including changes in resource availability and cost, as well as harsher market conditions. To overcome these challenges, cooperatives have implemented climate action solutions such as: climate finance, waste management, and the integration of climate actions in business solutions. Climate action solutions for coops and enterprise include climate compliance in loan assessments, energy and climate audit, credit union self-assessment waste audit and management, waste audit for business, climate finance, and integration of climate actions in business solutions wherever applicable.
Ms. Gumban explained that climate action can be integrated throughwnership meetings, loan orientations, general assemblies, social media campaigns, Cooperatives Month celebrations, community development programs, children and youth programs.
To promote climate action, cooperatives have leveraged various platforms, including social media campaigns, community development programs, and Cooperatives Month celebrations. The development of a green cooperative assessment tool has also been crucial in promoting environmental and climate awareness.
The next speaker, Jay Lacsamana (Institute for Social Enterprises in Asia) discussed about building economic resilience. Climate change currently has a disproportionate impact on the poor, and its effects are evident in various ways. The low volume and poor quality of harvests, high mortality and morbidity of poultry and livestock, low productivity, crop failure, biodiversity loss, and inconsistent delivery of supplies are some of the challenges that the poor face due to climate change. The poor also suffer from asset loss and higher expenses.
To combat these issues, anticipatory interventions such as crop and livelihood diversification, agroforestry, and covering of crops and trees to ease temperature increases. Moreover, partnerships with the private sector, LGUs, and government agencies, as well as capacity development, are also recommended.
Mr. Lacsamana also emphasized that economic resilience relies on multiple bottom lines, including social equity, economic viability, and ecological soundness. Social entrepreneurship, fair trade, solidarity economy, and inclusive business are critical for achieving economic resilience.
A climate justice perspective is needed to ensure the poor, who are the most affected by climate change, are not overlooked. Poverty-proofing, in addition to climate-proofing, is necessary. To achieve economic resilience, participatory early warning systems, diversification and intensification, geospatial, location, ecosystem-specific production and regeneration systems, and local enabling must be utilized.
To conclude, Mr. Lacsamana explained that economic resilience should be climate-resilient, food secure, and regenerative, and it should facilitate a community of adopters, surplus generation, and benefit sharing, and it should be scaled up for fair markets. By focusing on a climate justice perspective, it is possible to build economic resilience while addressing the challenges faced by the poor due to climate change.
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