Rising sea levels and sinking lands are leaving communities in the Philippines with the challenge of adapting to a combination of hazards that are reshaping coastal and island life.
Globally, around 40% of the population lives in coastal areas, with more than 850 million people in low elevated coastal zones less than 10 meters above sea level, including more than 150 million living less than 5 above sea level.
Between 2000 and 2019, an estimated 1.6 billion people were affected by different types of flooding, threatening infrastructure and disrupting basic services.
On July 28, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his State of the Nation Address ordered an investigation into possible corruption in flood control projects; since then, the scandal has ignited a broader anti-corruption movement among Filipinos.
