Loss and damage fund a win for PH, climate vulnerable countries

Senate President Pro-Tempore Loren Legarda today welcomed the new global deal to establish a "loss and damage" facility as compensation for climate vulnerable developing countries, including the Philippines, due to the destruction brought about by climate change, which they did not cause.

The deal was included in the decision adopted by countries at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), following two weeks of negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

"Today, we celebrate a historic win for the developing world with the establishment of a loss and damage fund as reparation for the lives, livelihoods, assets, and opportunities destroyed within climate vulnerable countries, including the Philippines. This is a welcome development of a decade-long battle on loss and damage, but we remain steadfast in our continuing call for climate justice as we demand the developed countries to actually deliver on their commitments in the Paris Agreement," Legarda said.

Senator Legarda explained that developed countries have failed to meet their obligations in the climate treaty, particularly, in annually mobilizing US$100 billion of climate finance for developing countries starting in 2020. This failure, she added, delays progress and raises doubts on the developed countries' genuineness and solidarity with the developing world.

She stated that there must be clarity and new roadmap to deliver on this promise and for new commitments, including the loss and damage fund and the doubling of adaptation finance. She also supported the call to opening more access to climate finance from public and private sources and philanthropies, and for multilateral development banks and financial institutions to improve their business models to accept risks and leverage finance for developing countries.

She however lamented that the COP27 decision is remiss in conveying stronger language against fossil fuels and increasing countries' targets to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, in support of the 1.5 degrees Celsius climate goal of the Paris Agreement.

"Central to our pursuit for climate justice is our call to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius--our climate survival threshold. Current commitments to reduce emissions still lead to a level way beyond that threshold, and it's worrying for countries like ours that already find it hard to adapt at the current level. Despite this, however, the benefits of renewable energy, especially in terms of savings to power costs, speak for itself and encourage nations to sustain the momentum for RE and put an end to the fossil fuel era." Legarda said.