Protesters hold a sign reading "Climate Finance Now" during a demonstration at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila on 29 September 2023, to demand the US government to deliver its climate finance commitments owed to the developing countries. (Photo by Earvin Perias / AFP)
The Philippines needs trillions of pesos in climate financing to address mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage that global warming has caused in the country, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a Palace briefing, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change.
"We are not even point five of one percent of global emissions, but we are one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change," Yulo-Loyzaga said.
The Philippines is experiencing the impacts of climate change, such as more frequent and intense typhoons, rising sea levels and droughts.
Yulo-Loyzaga stressed that the Philippines needs major financing to implement its Nationally Determined Contributions, which are its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"We have identified which sectors emit the most. As you know, energy and transport are the highest contributors, next would be agriculture and then industry," Yulo-Loyzaga said.
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The Philippines also needs financing to implement its National Adaptation Plan, which is its plan to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
"In the National Adaptation Plan, what is most critical is resilient infrastructure especially for agriculture and food," Yulo-Loyzaga said.
The Philippines is also calling for the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund to help developing countries cope with the impacts of climate change that they did not contribute to, according to the DENR chief.
"The real challenge for us, as well as the opportunity, is that DOF has been working very, very closely with all the different partners internationally to tailor our needs to the financing that needs to be made available," Yulo-Loyzaga said.
The Philippines is hopeful that the COP28 will result in concrete action on climate change.
"We hope that this will come in the form of additional social development funding, funding for resilient infrastructure so that, in fact, we can avoid the kind of destruction that we are already facing and have faced in the past," Yulo-Loyzaga said.
