New York—The Philippines stressed the importance of international collaboration and national leadership in advancing climate action, aligning its efforts with the 1.5°C global goal during the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Partnership Steering Committee Meeting held here.
The two-day event gathered representatives of developing countries, developed countries and their funding organizations, multilateral development banks, and academia, who form part of the NDC Partnership steering committee, to discuss the current and upcoming work program aimed to support higher ambition in NDCs by 2025.
The Philippine delegation, led by Commissioner Rachel Anne S. Herrera of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and Undersecretary Carlos Abad Santos of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), expressed gratitude for the NDC partnership’s efforts to address the growing needs of developing countries.
Herrera during ther meeting acknowledged the NDC Partnership’s assistance, which includes resources from the Partnership Action Fund (PAF) and the deployment of in-country facilitators to help develop the Philippines’ NDC Partnership Plan.
She cited the need for sustained international collaboration and country-level leadership for successful climate action efforts.
“The (NDC) Partnership is at a crossroads but is well-placed to seize the momentum. For the Philippines, we prioritize climate action from the highest and across all levels of government, aligning with our national development agenda,” said Herrera.
She cited the unique role of the NDC Partnership in guiding countries through climate financing mechanisms.
“The platform has become the ‘approach of choice’ for many, including the Philippines, as we engage with bilateral partners and multilateral development banks to enhance our climate resilience,” she said.
She pointed out the importance of focusing on countries committed to implement and enhance their NDCs, those with the potential for transformative adaptation co-benefits, and those promoting inclusion and gender empowerment. Equally important are countries that may lack quantitative indicators but show promise through peer-to-peer learning due to positive outcomes and progress in realizing ambitious goals.
In his remarks, Abad Santos reiterated the Philippines’ commitment to submitting an enhanced NDC by 2025. “The Philippines intends to submit an enhanced NDC 3.0, focusing on scaling up climate action and ambition on mitigation and implementation,” he stated.
The updated plan will establish a robust measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system, emphasizing adaptation and resilience. He said the country’s NDC will revisit parameters and measures across various sectors, including agriculture, energy, industry, and forestry, while setting respective targets based on integrated modeling and economy-wide analysis. CCC News
