Senator Loren Legarda called for urgent, climate-resilient urban transformation in her keynote address at the luncheon for speakers of the Trans-Pacific Sustainability Dialogue (TPSD) 2025: Sustainable Cities and Communities, grounded in the country’s recent experience with destructive typhoons and the widening gap between urban growth and livability.
“It is my honor to host this luncheon and to welcome you all to Manila,” Legarda began, addressing a high-level gathering. “We gather in that same spirit of candor, respect, and search for common ground.”
Speaking before delegates from the Ban Ki-moon Foundation, Stanford University’s Asia-Pacific Research Center, the University of the Philippines Asian Center, and other international institutions, the veteran legislator paid tribute to former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whom she had worked with on shared advocacies for climate action, disaster resilience, and sustainable development.
“Even complex global challenges can be met through empathy and collective resolve.”
“Your leadership, from championing the Sustainable Development Goals to guiding the Paris Agreement, has shown us all that even complex global challenges can be met through empathy and collective resolve,” the seasoned lawmaker said. “The Philippine Senate’s Resolution No. 929, which I had the honor to sponsor last year, was our modest tribute to you, a leader who has built bridges of cooperation across continents.”
Legarda, a long-time advocate of environmental protection and climate action, stressed her message on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.
The lady senator warned that the country’s urban development has outpaced its safeguards, citing the devastation left by Typhoons Tino and Uwan.
“It is like nature is speaking to us, telling us that our urban growth has outpaced our safeguards,” she said. “It is a hard truth; our cities are not yet built for the climate realities we face.”
“Our urban growth has outpaced our safeguards.”
Legarda emphasized that legislative action must match the scale of the challenge. She cited the Sustainable Cities and Communities Act, the Clean Gateway Cities Act, the Urban Walkability and Safe Pathways Standards Act, the Government Sustainable Hybrid and Electric Fleet Transition (SHIFT) Act, and the Noise Pollution Control and Abatement Act as key measures aligned with SDG 11.
“These measures are important,” Legarda said, “but what matters is the spirit with which they are implemented, the spirit of long-term vision and care for both people and planet.”
She closed with a call to deepen cooperation across sectors and generations.
“Let this Dialogue be one such bridge, linking research and policy, past and future,” Legarda concluded.
