THE Philippines has so far received zero financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a funding facility set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the 2010 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
According to Climate Change Commission Vice Chairman Emmanuel M. de Guzman, however, the Philippine delegation will demand more funding to replenish the GCF when they sit down at the negotiating table in Katowice, Poland in early December.
There were pledges worth $10.3 billion for the GCF in 2014. However, recent reports point to doubts over the sustainability of the GCF.
De Guzman said the Philippines would “hopefully come up with a project proposal next year to access some of the funds,” with the recent approval of LandBank as a conduit for the GCF.
“We need to mobilize or call for replenishment of the GCF, which is the financing mechanism under the Paris Agreement. That will be a major concern, a major focus,” de Guzman said at a news briefing last Monday.
He added meetings he’d have “with some ambassadors here [proved] quite promising.”
“Some of them have committed to advocating climate finance. As you know in the Paris Agreement, the developed countries would have to raise $100 billion by 2020.”
According to de Guzman, the review of the country’s conditional promise of 70-percent carbon-emission reduction between 2020 and 2030 is ongoing alongside the crafting of the final National Determined Contribution (NDC).
“The [NDC] is a work in progress right now. However, when we adopted or ratified the Paris Agreement [in 2015], we agreed that we will revisit our submission so that we could also adjust our parameters in terms of projections, economic growths, as well as population growths. These are new considerations,” he said.
According to de Guzman, there is an ongoing recalculation of the targets based on cost-benefit analysis. He added that the commission is working closely with the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and the Department of Energy in finalizing the NDC.
“Because we view the NDC as an investment plan [and] because this will actually define our transition requirement toward a low-carbon pathway,” he said.
He added that the Neda “would like to do a little bit of analysis and remodeling.” De Guzman said the Neda also wants to revisit the assumptions used in coming up with the Philippine Development Plan.
“Because the challenge is we have to go beyond business as usual. If we do the planning based on business as usual, we are not innovating,” de Guzman said. “We would like the NDC to be the plan to bring us to a green economy and low-carbon development.”
The more ambitious but realistic NDC, he added, will include the agriculture sector, solid waste, industries and transportation.
According to de Guzman, the Philippines will insist on “climate justice,” wherein developed countries will fund climate adaptation programs or projects of developing countries. He explained that the Duterte administration is not keen on spending fund to reduce carbon emission that will affect growth and development targets.
De Guzman said coming up with a new NDC will remain conditional or dependent on the financing it can avail coming from the developed countries.
“Essentially, we should not be spending for this because we did not cause climate change. And we have needs both for adaptation and resilience building; these should be financed through the climate finance mechanisms set in the Paris Agreement,” he said.
De Guzman said the Philippines will be able to come up with the final NDC before the full implementation of the Paris Agreement by 2020.
“We only have one year left. If we can finish it next year, why not? It will be reflective of our conditions; it is synchronized with our national plans,” he said during the high-level opening ceremonies of the Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week and Press Conference at a convention center in Pasay City.