PH pushes disaster funds in upcoming COP29 meet

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga. Photo from DENR Facebook page.

Environment Secretary Maria Antonio Yulo Loyzaga vowed to push climate financing targets for disaster-vulnerable countries when she leads the Philippine delegation to the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) climate summit next week.

Loyzaga said this with “cautious optimism” as she heads to the annual climate conference held this year at Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 11 to Nov. 22.

More funds

“Limited fiscal space in climate vulnerable developing countries means we need urgent access to the best science, along with new, additional and appropriate financing and innovative mechanisms and instruments from public and private sources,” Loyzaga said.

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This, she added, would benefit Asia-Pacific, which remains the “most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”

This year’s summit jumps off from the climate financing deal of $100 billion a year from developed countries as agreed upon by all parties in the COP28 held in Dubai.

Other issues

In addition to the climate finance framework, Loyzaga pointed out the need to highlight “equally important” issues such as food and water security, urbanization, public health, local resilience and climate change-induced mobility.

With the Philippine delegation’s attendance to the COP29, the environment chief hopes to prepare as well for the country’s hosting in December of the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage.

The board was established in last year’s summit to help communities most affected by climate change to recover and become resilient.

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