The Philippines, as country host of the loss and damage fund board, remains committed to multilateral climate action, particularly if it is “vibrant, strong and inclusive”, said environment secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.
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Loyzaga’s comments at the fund board’s meeting – its first one hosted in Manila – which kicked off on Monday come amid criticisms surrounding the United Nations-driven global multilateral process. At the COP29 climate summit which concluded more than a week ago in Baku, Azerbaijan, the world agreed to a US$300 billion climate finance goal that fell short of the trillions that developing nations say they need to tackle the climate crisis.
In her opening speech, Loyzaga reiterated the Philippines’ trust and confidence in multilateralism despite the setbacks. “We are convinced that multilateralism remains the only viable platform for collective action against transcendental global challenges such as climate change,” she said.
The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) was operationalised at COP28 in 2023, with the Philippines selected in July this year to host the fund board, while the World Bank acts as interim secretariat host and trustee of the fund for the next four years.
The consensus to set up the finance mechanism at COP27 in Egypt to enable communities in developing countries to respond to extreme weather events and the disproportionate impacts they face due to climate change has always represented a hard-fought win for small and vulnerable states.
Loyzaga, in her speech, also called for a “bottom-up, country-led approach” in administering the fund board’s activities, by ensuring that citizens are involved and empowered to shape how the financial resources are directed towards projects and areas where they are most needed, though she did not give details on how this will be done.
Campaigners protesting in front of the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City to demand that developed countries’ governments fill the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD). They also called on the board members to maintain independence from the World Bank, the host of the fund’s secretariat. Image: Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development
Disasters and impacts are estimated to cost developing countries at least US$447-894 billion a year by 2030, but so far the fund has only received unconfirmed pledges of US$731 million, including new commitments made at COP29 from Australia, Belgium, Luxemburg, New Zealand and Sweden.
At COP, loss and damage financing was also not included within the framework of the climate finance deal, as feared by civil society groups, after seeing how wealthy countries rejected to do so at technical expert dialogues held ahead of the global summit in Baku. This could leave the FRLD without adequate finance to address loss and damage at the scale of what is needed, said activists.
The exclusion of loss and damage, one of the main pillars of climate action alongside adaptation and mitigation, is an “elephant in the room” that needs to be addressed at this week’s board meeting, said Jayvy Gamboa, assistant director for policy and governance at the Klima Center of the Manila Observatory.
“The fund will not necessarily be at risk, but the board and the fund’s new executive director will have to be decisive in ensuring that the pledges are delivered,” said Gamboa, who was active in participating in loss and damage forums at the Philippine pavilion at COP29.
Other key agenda items for the four-day meeting include determining the rules of procedure, which refer to whether decisions will be adopted through a consensus; the accreditation process for funds to decide if their disbursement need to go through an organsation like the UN Development Programme; as well as what financial instruments that can be offered by the fund.
On Monday, the fund board’s co-chair Richard Sherman, was at one point emotional when he highlighted how it took three decades for the fund to be operationalised since Vanuatu first raised the question on the global stage of who should pay for the climate catastrophe, and called for wealthier countries which are historically responsible for emissions to take responsibility.
In his speech, he also made a special mention of and acknowledged the work of the late Bernarditas de Castro Muller, former Group of 77 (G77) and China lead negotiator who passed away in December 2018, for being part of the fight. G77 has been a strong advocate for the operationalisation of the loss and damage fund, and the Philippines has traditionally worked closely with the grouping to advance the interests of developing nations in the global arena. [would this be accurate to say? need some context of why G77 is suddenly mentioned]
“This is a very special moment for G77 and it would be wrong of me not to recognise the work of G77, our friend Bernaditas who is no longer here, and the Philippines government, for the fact that we are here today. It has been quite a journey for all of us.”
The fund board has had three meetings previously in the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Azerbaijan.
