Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, the Philippines is found near the equator and within the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because of this geographic location, the Philippines is counted as one of the most vulnerable countries to various hydrometeorological disasters and ranks first among 193 countries assessed for disaster risk (World Risk Index 2024).  

With the effects of the climate crisis, low-lying coastal communities are threatened by rising sea levels, while increasingly intense typhoons averaging at about 20 per year (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration) bring devastating floods and landslides. Moreover, prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall patterns disrupt agriculture, water resources, and access to basic services. These climate impacts disproportionately affect marginalized communities, exacerbating poverty, increasing gender-based violence, and overall inequality. Complex and ever-changing socioeconomic conditions also make the country particularly susceptible to the intensifying effects of climate change. 

CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949. In the Philippines, CARE empowers communities to address their vulnerability to natural hazards, climate change, environmental degradation and other shocks and stresses, and to strengthen their resilience. CARE Philippines is promoting the integration of disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and ecosystem management and restoration as an effective approach to build community resilience, thus applying the approach across all our programs.