PH delegation at climate talks: End debate, take action

Less talk, more action. This is what the Philippines wants the world, especially rich countries, to do now in order to mitigate the ill effects of climate change.

“We have very high expectations for this COP26 meeting to become not just merely an annual platform for discussion but a catalyst for concrete action plans,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who delivered the Philippines’ statement at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on Nov. 9 (Wednesday morning, Philippine time).

“It’s time that we do some actual work on the ground and build a framework for climate justice. Those who polluted and continue to pollute the earth’s environment through unthinking industrialization starting 200 years ago must pay for the grants, investments and subsidies needed for the most vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change,” added Dominguez, who heads the Philippine delegation to COP26 as chair-designate of the Climate Change Commission (CCC).

“The time for debate is over. This is the time to finally begin acting on the fulfillment of our commitments and obligations to humanity,” Dominguez said.

Bearing the brunt

Dominguez said that despite a miniscule contribution to global greenhouse emissions—a mere 0.3 percent—the Philippines had been bearing the brunt of climate change.

“Our country is sinking four times faster than the global average. Annually, we are confronted with extreme floods and droughts as well as increasing severity and frequency of typhoons. Millions of lives are at stake. Clearly, climate change is very real to the Philippines,” he said.

The Philippines has already committed to slash harmful emissions by three-fourths by 2030 and the government has assembled a group of Filipino experts to help farmers and fisherfolk adapt through local action plans, Dominguez noted.

To fund climate change initiatives, the Philippines also came up with its sustainable finance roadmap aimed at attracting investments in green projects, including the energy transition mechanism (ETM) to be piloted with the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB), he added.

ETM will allow the government to buy operating coal-fired power plants and then retire these while jump-starting clean energy sources. Through ETM, the government plans to rehabilitate the decades-old Agus-Pulangi hydropower facilities in Mindanao before shutting down the coal plants on the war-torn southern island.

“To urge the Filipino people to do their part on a daily basis in saving the world’s environment, we are pushing for a law banning single-use plastics. These are concrete actions to demonstrate to the world how a developing and climate-vulnerable country like the Philippines can lead in this fight to save our planet. This also shows that our commitments are not merely empty or half-baked promises, but are supported by actionable projects on the ground,” said Dominguez.

MSME insurance

Separately, ADB launched at COP26 on Nov. 9 a project where the bank will help develop climate-smart insurance covering micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines.

This is the first project under the Vulnerable Twenty Group’s (V20) sustainable insurance facility, which will be administered by ADB. According to its website, the 48 member-countries of V20 accounted for 1.2 billion of the world’s population but contributed a total of only 5 percent to global emissions.

ADB noted that “MSMEs remain underserved and, in some instances, unreached by insurance markets, leaving them highly vulnerable to climate and disaster shocks.”

The central bank will also aggressively push for the adoption of sustainable finance principles in the local banking system as part of its commitment to fight environmental degradation as laid out in COP26 .

“As stewards of the financial sector, we should all commit to act with urgency in achieving the desired emissions reduction targets and in promoting the sustainability agenda,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said in a statement on Wednesday.

The central bank will provide an enabling regulatory environment to equip banks in managing climate change, environmental and social risks.