Heavily exposed to increasing incidence of extreme weather events, the Philippines is among one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world. Losses in rural areas, especially where there’s ongoing armed conflict, are not just financial. Across the world, climate and conflict are deeply intertwined and their negative effects mutually reinforcing. In the Philippines, this relationship is evident in Mindanao, a farming community on the country’s southernmost island. Despite peace efforts to end over 40 years of social and ethnic conflict there, hostilities remain. According to research conducted by the University of Queensland and Oxfam, the violence has particularly marginalized women, from female farmers to the widows of those killed in combat. In parallel, the area has also seen an increase in both typhoons and droughts over the past decade.
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