GOVERNING FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE: AN INDICATOR-BASED EVALUATION OF LOCAL CLIMATE GOVERNANCE IN ZAMBOANGA CITY

Abstract

Local governments in climate-vulnerable settings must convert climate and disaster mandates into operational routines—risk-informed planning, resilient financing, early warning-to-action systems, coordinated response, and recovery learning. This paper evaluates local climate governance in Zamboanga City using an indicator-based Local Climate Governance Effectiveness Index (LCGEI) aligned with the governance priorities of the Sendai Framework and the institutional logic of the Philippine DRRM system. The study operationalizes governance effectiveness across five domains: (1) institutionalization and coordination, (2) planning integration, (3) financing and resource continuity, (4) early warning and preparedness, and (5) response, recovery, and learning. A structured indicator series (2019–2025) is compiled and scored on a governance maturity rubric and converted to a 0–100 domain scale, producing an annual LCGEI. Results indicate a steady strengthening of climate governance performance: overall LCGEI improved from 56.0 (2019) to 73.4 (2025), with the fastest gains in early warning and preparedness (55 → 75) and institutionalization and coordination (66 → 83). Planning integration and financing continuity also improved (52 → 68 and 49 → 66, respectively), but remain the most binding constraints to long-run risk reduction. A robustness check using domain-weight sensitivity and scoring reliability procedures indicates stable rankings and consistent domain patterns under plausible alternative specifications. Policy implications emphasize governance mechanisms rather than project expansion: city–barangay performance compacts, end-to-end early warning governance, resilience finance traceability, and institutional learning loops that translate hazard experience into funded corrective action. These reforms are mapped explicitly to Sendai priorities and the thematic areas of Republic Act No. 10121.