The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Friday stressed the importance of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to help address financing gaps in climate action.
DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga will lead the Philippine delegation on an official mission to Baku, Azerbaijan for the COP29 or the 2024 United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change from Nov. 11 until Nov. 22.
Amid the worsening climate crisis, Yulo expressed “cautious optimism” as the Philippine delegation strives to follow up on previous commitments and advance new ones.
The Philippines, along with other countries, will also set a new global climate finance target for 2025 onwards, working from the $100 billion per year commitment, which the parties have previously agreed on.
The Asia-Pacific nations that host a number of islands, including the Philippines, are among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, Loyzaga noted.
“Limited fiscal space in climate vulnerable developing countries means we need urgent access to the best science, along with new, additional and appropriate financing and innovative mechanisms and instruments from public and private sources,” she said.
“We are heading into COP29 inextricably linking Paris to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the United Nations auspices and the Plastics Treaty as well as other international commitments,” the DENR chief added.
“All these must be linked because they rely on human and largely political decisions and actions and are truly interdependent.”
As world leaders prepare to hunker down in Baku for tough climate change negotiations, Loyzaga said “we are paying close attention to discussions on our oceans, just as we are watching life on land.”
“A just transition, food, (including agriculture and fisheries) and water security, public health, climate change-induced mobility, urbanization, local resilience and the developments in carbon and biodiversity markets are also among our areas of concern,” she raised.
Loyzaga said the Philippines is also preparing to host the fourth meeting of the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage in Manila on Dec. 2-5.
“[We] have met with the co-chairs, and together with the newly elected executive director, we hope to explore ways that the Philippines and the Fund can work together to accelerate operationalization so that we can contribute to achieving the goals of the fund,” she said.
