‘Climate change inaction cost to reach P1.4 trillion by 2030’

MANILA, Philippines — The cost of inaction against climate change could reach P1.4 trillion by 2030, or about eight percent of the 2020 gross domestic product, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said yesterd

During the launch of the Philippine-Canada Partnership on Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Makati, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said that building capacity for adaptation and mitigation is both critical and urgent for a climate vulnerable country like the Philippines.

“This is especially important when we consider our ecosystems and the services they deliver as the lifeblood of our communities, and the support they give to different sectors in our economy. We know that gender-based vulnerability is compounded by intersectionality,” Loyzaga said.

She said marginalization and multiple social and physical burdens compound climate risk. “When gender intersects, conflict, ethnicity, age, literacy, poverty, disability and vulnerability to the impacts of extreme weather and other hazards deepens, thus the importance of this particular initiative,” Loyzaga said.

She said the Philippines presented the completion of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) during the 28th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“This was deemed very important in terms of defining the scope and magnitude of our needs. Nature-based solutions are critical to our arsenal and must be rooted in the best available science as well as indigenous and local knowledge. Scaling up is part of the thematic areas that we address in the NAP and this particular project is well within those areas,” Loyzaga added.

She said there is a need to protect and rehabilitate biodiversity, critical habitats and ecosystems amid climate hazards and the vulnerability of communities.

The DENR has taken a whole-of-government approach in crafting a new evidence-informed plan on adaptation, which falls within that whole-of-government approach.