PHL confident in hosting UN’s Loss and Damage Fund

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES has the expertise to host the board of a global fund that aims to assist nations vulnerable to climate change since it has shown its commitments to a rules-based and a sustainable future, Philippine Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said over the weekend.

“We stand ready to offer our knowledge grounded in our long history and culture of human resilience,” she said in a national statement on Dec. 9 at the United Nations’ (UN) climate conference as quoted by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s office on Sunday.

Ms. Yulo-Loyzaga stressed that the Philippines has both the “institutional capacity” and “expertise” to host the United Nations’ Loss and Damage Fund’s board since it has already “hosted various international and regional organizations.

She cited the country’s “footprint” in various United Nations negotiations, including the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement, and the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, among others.

“[It] bears witness to our abiding interest in promoting equitable and just rules in the governance of the global commons,” she said. “Our commitment to multilateralism, strengthened international cooperation and global solidarity remains steadfast, recognizing that no single country can tackle the complexities of climate change alone.”

In a breakthrough on Nov. 30, delegates at the climate talks adopted the proposed loss and damage fund to help developing nations cope with the climate crisis. Countries, among them the United Kingdom, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, contributed approximately a total of $400 million to the fund.

Ms. Yulo-Loyzaga said the international community should make the Philippines a host of the fund’s board to ensure that the experiences of the most affected countries are considered.

The World Bank would only have a temporary oversight over the fund, amid questions of its connections to the United States, which is among the world’s largest climate polluters.

The US has gained backlash for contributing only $17.5 million to the fund, an amount described by many as “embarrassing” considering the size of its economy. It’s less than a fifth of the United Arab Emirates’ contribution and over a dozen times less than the European Union’s.

Ms. Yulo-Loyzaga said the Philippines, which seeks to have a seat at the board, is in the final stages of completing its National Action Plan (NAP) and Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan (NDCIP), which would set the Philippines’ greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

“We have also actively engaged in advancing climate action, disaster risk reduction and resilience-building efforts across the Asia-Pacific region and with ASEAN,” she added.

The Philippines in 2012 institutionalized a survival fund that seeks to assist local government units in their climate mitigation projects, appropriating at P1 billion for it annually.

Finance Minister Benjamin E. Diokno, on the sidelines of COP28, said the Philippine government wants to replenish the Peoples Survival Fund with the help of multilateral financing institutions, including the Asian Development Bank (ADB).’

“I think the idea is maybe really to replenish that fund from donors. And I think there are some possible donors that we’ve talked to,” he said.

The fund, which was institutionalized through a 2012 law that amended the Climate Change Act of 2009, has not moved for a long time, he noted.

The Peoples Survival Fund Board, which is chaired by Mr. Diokno, earlier this month approved P539 million worth of new climate adaptation projects. Projects that are typically supported by the fund include, among others, irrigation infrastructure, early warning and drainage systems, and reforestation programs.