While the World Bank is the host of the Loss and Damage Fund Board itself, the Philippines’ position as its Board host places it in a key position to shape how it would operate
The next round of climate negotiations (COP29) will take place this November in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is a conference whose success will be decided on countries being able to reach agreements when it comes to finance, especially on developing countries receiving much-needed support from rich nations like the United States and those in Europe.
The yearly negotiations are important to the Philippines, which was recently named as the nation at highest risk to climate-related disasters for the third straight year. Yet the significance of this year’s climate talks is even higher for our country for several reasons.
Leadership against loss and damage
The Philippines finds itself in a more influential position at the negotiating table than it has in a long time. This is due to the country serving as the host of the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, which aims to assist the most vulnerable nations in recovering from extreme weather events or avoiding even worse impacts.
While the World Bank is the host of the Fund itself, the Philippines’ position as its Board host places it in a key position to shape how it would operate. At COP29, countries aim to determine how to mobilize more money for the Fund, which currently totals more than US$661 million; this is nowhere near what developing nations need to avoid loss and damage.
The country’s leadership would be pivotal in also determining how the Fund would be distributed. Many nations and civil society groups have been calling for the money to be given mainly by direct grants, while allowing communities to directly access instead of only through governments. A direct representation of non-government stakeholders in the Board, which is uncommon under the UN’s climate-focused bodies, will also be discussed.
The positions that the Philippine government delegation would carry on these issues must reflect the lessons learned in a year when Filipinos experienced both sides of extreme weather, from the El Niño-enhanced droughts in the summer to the floods and heavy rainfall in recent months.
The negotiations at COP29 may also affect the ongoing discussions on the “Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Bill,” which aims to create a national counterpart of the Fund. If passed, it would also strengthen the framework to hold big businesses accountable for pollutive activities and resulting violations of human rights, especially the most vulnerable communities.
Money for adaptation and mitigation
Addressing loss and damage is not the only issue whose funding needs would be tackled at COP29. Arguably the most critical topic for negotiators to debate in Baku is determining the “new collective quantified goal,” or the total amount of money needed for developing countries like the Philippines to properly implement their national climate strategies.
While the previous target was set at $100 billion by 2020, a target that developed nations have still yet to definitively meet, the needs of developing nations have increased in recent years. Some countries have forwarded a goal of more than $1 trillion, while non-government groups are calling for a $5 trillion-a-year target.
The Philippines requires finance, technologies, and capacity-building support from developed countries, as part of its calls for climate justice. This is based on the country not being a major contributor of the pollution that cause climate change, and countries like the United States and those in Europe paying developing nations for triggering this global crisis we are facing.
The costs for climate change mitigation, or reducing the pollution it is emitting, are tremendous. For our country to live up to its pledge to lower pollution by 75% within the current decade, it needs more than P4.1 trillion, or more than 70% of the 2024 national budget. The nation’s needs on adaptation, however, are unclear, as of this writing.
While the government has positioned its adaptation and mitigation plans as strategies to attract investments to flow into the country, it is still developing its own strategies for how exactly to use the finance it would secure. In developing its long-term climate strategies, it is currently working with the likes of the United Nations Development Programme and Asian Development Bank, which would have ramifications on many aspects of daily life, from food security to clean and affordable electricity.
Just transition
Implementing climate actions would also aid the Philippines’ pursuit of sustainable development. In creating more green jobs, building more renewable energy power plants, or improving public transport, there must be a just transition, where no one should be left behind.
This principle is also acknowledged in the climate negotiations, with countries at COP29 also tackling what a just transition would look like. It is also tied to the finance discussions to take place in Baku, especially for developing nations who would need support to ensure the greening of their economies would also help reduce poverty, improve public health, and protect the environment, among other development goals.
In the Philippines, the government led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources recently started the process for determining the country’s just transition framework. While the process would take 18 months, that does not mean agencies cannot begin implementing urgent actions.
It is up to the national government to ensure a truly inclusive environment for developing this framework, through using its resources and existing coordination mechanisms with local government units to reach out to as many stakeholders as possible. It must not pass the burden of data collection, participation, and other parts of the process to key sectors in these discussions, such as transport groups, labor unions, mining-affected communities, and civil society organizations. – Rappler.com
John Leo is the National Coordinator of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas and the Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Campaigns of Living Laudato Si’ Philippines. He is also a member of the Youth Advisory Group for Environmental and Climate Justice under the UNDP in Asia and the Pacific. He has been a climate and environment journalist since 2016.
