Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda on Monday said that countries like the Philippines must continue to push for acknowledgment and compensation for “loss and damage.”
Salceda, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, noted that “Typhoon Paeng wasn’t supposed to be that strong, and yet killed dozens of people due to stronger than expected floods.”
“Climate change kills. There is loss and damage. And countries like the Philippines that are the most at-risk due to its impacts have a moral responsibility and the moral ascendancy to fight for the principle of loss and damage,” Salceda said.
Loss and damage, in international climate law, refers to the permanent loss or reparable damage caused by climate change, including extreme weather events like typhoons, as well as slow-onset events such as sea-level rise, Salceda explained.
Salceda, who was formerly the co-chair of the United Nations Green Climate Fund, will be part of the Philippine delegation to the Conference of Parties (COP) 27, or the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, set in Egypt this year.
“International aid and green financing are not enough. There has to be some form of compensation to the most vulnerable and affected countries,” Salceda said.
“Due to climate risks, we are now the most at-risk country in the world according to the 2022 Global Risk Report. Arguably, nobody is more affected by climate change than we are. If we are soft on this position, we throw other climate-vulnerable countries under the bus. So, we have to be strong on loss and damage,” Salceda added.
“Paeng isn’t even that strong, as far as typhoons in the October-November season go. Some 45 people dead during a ‘normal’ storm is no small matter. It’s the climate problem manifesting itself in the death toll.”
“It didn’t even hit Mindanao, as far as landfalls go. But most of the dead is from Mindanao. More communities are becoming vulnerable to the effects of stronger weather events.”
