Through the kind invitation of my friend Dr. Maria Carinnes Alejandria, I joined a regional seminar-workshop in Palawan focused on climate health and flood preparedness, held at Palawan State University from 22 to 23 September 2025.

My own talk focused on Brunei’s early steps in climate health adaptation. I shared how we are working to integrate climate risks into health system planning, from national policy to hospital operations. This includes efforts to reduce exposure to floods, heat and vector-borne disease, while building internal capacity through our Climate, Health and Sustainability Taskforce. Although we are still at the beginning of this journey, we are learning how to move forward with limited resources and to build momentum across different levels of the system.

The discussions brought together a diverse mix of perspectives from across the region. Presentations covered themes ranging from flood governance and community resilience to policy, health and design. What came through strongly was a shared understanding that climate risks in our countries are deeply interconnected, and that greater regional collaboration is needed in areas such as data, early warning systems and policy development.

A sincere thank you to Carin for the generous invitation and for leading this event with such care and clarity. She did an amazing job bringing people together and creating space for honest, grounded discussions on what regional collaboration and resilience looks like. It was a privilege to contribute, and I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with others who are working through similar challenges in their own systems.