Phl Presents Plans On Climate Change

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III discussed in Glasgow Tuesday how the Philippines as a developing economy and climate-vulnerable country has been spearheading initiatives to broaden the participation of the financial sector in mobilizing funds and investments to squarely address the ill effects of the climate crisis.

Photo Insert: The Philippines launched a partnership with the ADB for the Energy Transition Mechanism project in Glasgow.

During the Green Finance Session jointly hosted by TIME Magazine Singapore and the Philippine Department of Finance (DOF), Secretary Dominguez also pointed out that the Philippines is proceeding with its adaptation and mitigation programs on the ground without waiting for the annual US$100-billion climate financing pledge made by developed countries in 2020 to materialize, given that time is fast running out on current global efforts to fight climate change.

But he made it clear that the Philippines was maintaining its position that developed countries should get their act together to deliver on this financing commitment made 12 years ago to assist climate-vulnerable countries in mitigating the disastrous effects of global warming.

As the Chairman-designate of the Climate Change Commission (CCC), Secretary Dominguez earlier committed to making the Philippines a model for other countries in mitigating the impact of this worsening crisis.

The Philippines has submitted as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement a projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and avoidance of 75 percent from 2020 to 2030 for agriculture, wastes, industry, transport, and energy sectors.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa opened the TIME Green Finance Session by highlighting the Bank’s ongoing efforts to back green development and financing mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region and accelerate the flow of funding support to its member economies for their climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives.

The TIME panel also included Mr. Ahmed Saeed, the ADB’s Vice President for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific; and Mr. Jonathan Pershing, the United States (US) Deputy Special Envoy for Climate.

Vice President Saeed and Mr. Pershing gave their insights on green finance, how developing countries like the Philippines can make progress in meeting their GHG emissions targets amid the financial challenges they face in achieving these goals, and how multilateral institutions and countries like the US can assist them.

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