THE Department of Finance (DOF) has welcomed the plan of the United States (US) to join again in an international accord to address the climate crisis.
In a statement posted at the DOF portal, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III was pleased by the announcement of US President Joseph Biden that the superpower nation will reenter the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The landmark international pact was signed in 2015 to address global warming. The US abandoned the climate agreement in 2020 after former President Donald Trump ordered the country’s withdrawal.
According to the DOF chief, Biden’s move is a welcome development after President Rodrigo Duterte repeatedly called on all countries to act immediately on the climate crisis as one community under the international pact.
He also stated that more efforts are needed to guarantee the generation of the $100 billion annual funding goal in the Paris Agreement for the adaptation and reduction needs of developing countries like the Philippines.
“Now, more than ever, we need to ensure the mobilization of finance flows toward the adaptation needs of our most vulnerable communities. We need such action to be faster and on a greater scale. And we need it to bring about effective solutions on the ground across the globe,” Dominguez said.
He suggested that developed nations “must deliver on their commitments to the Paris Agreement” to secure climate justice, including assistance to developing economies resulting to “low-carbon and sustainable development”.
Dominguez mentioned the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic in his statement as “a stark reminder that health, economic stability and nature are intertwined,” adding that it has demonstrated the “domino effect” that was caused “when one element in this interconnected system is overturned.”
The firm and earnest response to the unprecedented health crisis, the Finance secretary said, revealed the exceptional capability of the society to put the emergency brake on the “business-as-usual” way of thinking.
“It showed that we can act as one and radically change our ways and our systems to fight the scourge of a deadly virus for the greater good of all,” read his statement. “The same unity, resolve, and sense of urgency should be applied in combating the climate emergency and pursuing low-carbon and sustainable development.”