Philippines seeks inclusion of adaptation finance in draft Paris agreement

MANILA, Philippines - With only a few days remaining in the climate change talks in Paris, the Philippines is “seriously concerned” about the lack of provisions on financial assistance to vulnerable countries in the draft of the binding agreement that will limit global warming.

The Philippine delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change urged other countries to include adaptation finance in the draft Paris agreement in a high-level meeting in Le Bourget on Dec. 8.

During the meeting, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje raised concern that “there is not enough provision in the draft Paris agreement that provides adaptation finance for the developing countries most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.”

About 195 countries participated in a two-week negotiation to forge a universal agreement on climate change that will specify tracks of finance, mitigation and adaptation actions from 2020 and beyond.

But even after the first week of talks ended on Dec. 5, there was still no clear language detailing mobilization of adaptation funds for countries most vulnerable to climate change.

Paje pointed out that there was no reference to the amount of finance needed for adaptation in Article 6, which covers the element of finance in the new climate deal.

“My delegation hereby further intervenes to ensure clear reference to a collective target for adaptation,” Paje told the assembly.

He also said there should be a collective target for adaptation with a “solid quantitative goal” or a particular amount for adaptation finance that should be reviewed every five years.

He noted that predictable financing sources are critical for the implementation of initiatives like technology transfer and capacity-building innovations to enable a country to adapt effectively to climate change impacts.

The Philippines also wants to fast-track actions that would limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, a stance now being backed by 112 countries.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum, a partnership of 43 island nations led by the Philippines, has lobbied for a review of the two degrees Celsius target of the UN, saying the goal is not enough to address global warming.

Parties to the Paris climate talks, however, failed to reach an agreement on the review, a development that the Philippines described as a setback.

Paje stressed that climate change would not spare anyone and would affect all countries regardless of economic status. He said this should prod the 195 nations participating in the climate talks to work together to establish the loss and damage mechanism, increased national mitigation actions and accelerated capacity development for adaptation.

Climate financing proved to be one of the sticky issues in the Paris climate talks, which will end on Dec. 11.

The Philippines, which is visited by about 20 typhoons every year, wants a climate deal that will require developed countries to finance the climate programs of vulnerable states.

Some groups, however, insist that the Paris deal should impose the same obligation on all parties.

Meanwhile, Climate Change commissioner Heherson Alvarez has called for the phasing out of carbon, which has been blamed for global warming.

“All over the world, there is a cry now to price carbon appropriately, apply corresponding taxes and remove subsidy that makes carbon artificially cheap,” Alvarez said.

“And not too far from that is the well-accepted physical and economic reality that carbon is the triggering force behind destructive impacts of climate change. Carbon should not only have its common market price but must carry the additional cost of the global environmental ruin that it brings about,” he added.

He said the world should put a price on carbon “to steer the global economy toward a low-carbon, productive, competitive future without the dangerous levels of carbon pollution driving warming.”

Alvarez said pricing carbon correctly would make alternative fuels competitive in the energy system.

“If your alternatives will be cheap, it will displace carbon in the marketplace within the indicated timeframe calculated scientifically by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” he added.

Alvarez, a former environment secretary, said decarbonizing the Philippine economy can be done with the private stakeholders and by crafting policies that would make alternative energy competitive.

“We have all the opportunity to deploy abundant, readily available alternative energy. The Philippines is abundant in alternative energy from solar, wind, hydro and especially geothermal,” he said.

While not a major greenhouse gas emitter, the Philippines has vowed to cut carbon emissions by 70 percent by 2030.

Officials, however, said the goal can only be attained if the Philippines secures assistance in the form of financial resources, technology development and transfer and capability building.  – With Rhodina Villanueva