Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, Jr called on lawmakers to pass an enabling law for the global fund aimed at helping vulnerable nations cope with climate risks.
During his third state of the nation address on Monday, Marcos Jr highlighted the country’s selection as the host of the loss and damage fund, borne out of Filipinos becoming “proactive advocates for heightened climate responsibility and justice on the global stage” given its geographical location.
The Philippines is prone to tropical cyclones because it is situated just above the equator and facing the western Pacific, with little to absorb the energy of storms before they hit land.
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“We have secured a seat on the board of the loss and damage fund … the Philippines has also been selected as host country to that fund. This will require an enabling law from Congress to confer the legal personality and capacity to the board,” Marcos, Jr said in his annual address delivered before lawmakers, where he reported on the administration’s priorities for the next 12 months.
Lawmakers filed House Bill 10602 on 15 July giving legal authority to establish the fund, detailing what functions it can assume as an entity based in the Philippines.
Normally it is enough for an institution or corporation to be registered in the Philippines to be able to operate in the country, said Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), a regional alliance for people-centered development and economic and climate justice.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr delivers his state of the nation address in Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on 22 July, 2024. Image: RTVM
But because the loss and damage fund is not a typical institution or company that will be conducting international transactions and entering into international agreements, it would be more appropriate to have a specific “enabling law” that will spell out its authorities and functions as well as the obligations of the Philippine government as host, she added.
Nacpil further clarified that such a law will not directly enable more financing for the loss and damage fund.
The loss and damage fund is a global finance mechanism set up at the COP28 talks in Dubai last year, to provide compensation for losses and damages from natural disasters caused by climate change. The decision on who to host the fund was announced early this month in Incheon, South Korea.
No concrete agenda for climate justice
Despite the call from Marcos to fast track the passing of the enabling law for the loss and damage fund, pro-environment groups expressed dismay over what they claimed is a lack of a concrete climate justice agenda in his speech.
“President Marcos has put the Philippines in a good place by securing a seat in and hosting the loss and damage fund board. The next step is for him to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for the destruction caused by climate impacts,” said Jefferson Chua, campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines.
Chua cited how the biggest fossil fuel companies declared historic profits in 2022 at the same time when scientists were calling for the immediate phase out of fossil fuels in order to prevent runaway climate change.
In the Philippines alone, the combined costs of the 2023 tropical cyclone season is estimated to be almost US$1.4 billion, while this year’s record heatwaves caused damage to crops worth more than US$100 million, affecting over six million people.
Jonila Castro, advocacy officer for green coalition Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, accused the Marcos administration of “continuing to prioritise corporate profits over genuine climate action and sustainability, even as it pretends to be a climate champion and boasts of its new role in global loss and damage talks.”
Castro highlighted the approval of over 100 mining projects during Marcos Jr ‘s regime, which the network says devastates forests and exacerbates severe flooding, as well as disregards community welfare and ecological health.
Since taking office two years ago, Marcos, Jr has been vocal about mining for transition minerals like nickel and copper as one of the sectors that would boost the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Marcos’ pro-mining rhetoric was met with resistance from anti-mining groups, who said the industry disregarded the negative impacts of extractives. Nickel mining companies faced protests from communities last year.
