Background

The inspiration for project CURE stems from the two premises that we envision when combined will produce a massive benefit not just in Quezon City, Philippines, but to the world: the climate crisis and the human resource of the Philippines in terms of social media use.

According to the Country Climate and Development Report 2022, climate change in the Philippines will continue and accelerate. In an interview with CNN Philippines (Aug 2022), Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte admitted, "I believe the fact that climate initiatives are among the top agenda items of our administration since 2019 when I first became mayor and is already an explicit and implicit declaration that a climate emergency exists. Otherwise, why would we have put it among our city's top priorities?" 

On the one hand, in a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 94% of Filipino youths 18-29 years old were found to use the internet, at least occasionally, or use a smartphone. Furthermore, when the respondents were asked to rank the media sources, the internet/social media emerged to be the topmost preferred source of information.