THE National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (NFRDI) said the provinces deemed most vulnerable to climate change were Masbate, Leyte, Quezon and Eastern Samar.
Researchers led by Riza Jane S. Banicod zeroed in on the vulnerable provinces by evaluating their reliance on stable supply and consistent weather. They concluded that climate change is likeliest to have the most social impact in those locations.
The researchers conducted Climate Vulnerability Assessments using 27 indicators.
The Central and Western Visayas were also classified as vulnerable due to high sensitivity to raw material supply, particularly during the closed fishing season.
These six regions were also classified as having low adaptive capacity.
Sea surface temperatures have already risen by 0.7 degrees Celsius and could potentially rise by up to 3.5 degrees at least by 2100 without proper climate action.
NFRDI presented its research at the 2025 National Research Symposium. — Andre Christopher H. Alampay