ORTIGAS, Pasig City — Amidst the aggravating impacts of climate change and global warming, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) has partnered with the private sector and the academe in a collaborative effort to turn the Philippines into a global hub for climate technology and innovation.

According to science and technology secretary Renato Solidum Jr., the DoST is partnering with Filipino software \group Developers Connect Philippines (DevCon) and the De La Salle University (DLSU) for the establishment of a Climate Resilience Technology platform that would help mitigate the effects of the changing climate and melting of the polar caps.

Codenamed CResT, the platform will harness the technological expertise of DevCon and the scientific leadership of the DoST and DLSU in advanced research infrastructure that would help create cutting-edge climate resilience technologies.

DevCon founder Winston Damarillo disclosed that through CReST, the program would be able to develop a tech startup ecosystem focused on developing tech and apps for climate resilience adoptable by corporates and local government units to deal with the effects of climate change.

“The whole goal of this is to transform all the spending we do on climate resilience, all the R&D that we’re making and make it a real product that we can use to solve our problems here in the Philippines and a product that we can export,” Damarillo pointed out.

Based on the World Bank’s 2023 World Risk Index, the Philippines is number in the list of the most prone to disasters among 183 countries around the globe.

“That’s kind of a concerning data set. So what we want to do is to turn that into an opportunity,” Damarillo enthused while spelling out that under the CReST effort, the DoST, DevCon and DLSU aims to nurture tech startups focused on creating climate resilience solutions like life-saving early warning systems, expanding access to renewable energy, enhancing disaster resilience and pioneering reforestation through robotics.

For his part, Solidum underscored the need to recognize this vulnerability and seek to transform the Philippines from a climate-risk area into a leader in climate solutions.

“The Philippines is ready to lead in global climate action with tech-driven solutions. Through CResT, we will turn challenges into opportunities, positioning our nation as a global hub for climate tech innovation, where we develop and scale transformative solutions to meet urgent and future needs,” the DoST secretary concluded.