MANILA -- The Department of Finance (DOF) and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) will be holding a media briefing with the National Panel of Technical Experts (NPTE) this week to inform the press about climate hazards in the Philippines and actions that the government has been doing to address these risks.

The media briefing will be held virtually on December 3 from 2:00 PM onwards.

The media briefing will be participated by the 16 new NPTE members, namely: Dr. Jihan Adil, Dr. Nathaniel Alibuyog, Dr. Zenaida Andrade, Dr. Wilfredo Campos, Dr. Gay Defiesta, Dr. Ramon Lorenzo Luis Guinto, Dr. Eduardo Mangaoang, Dr. Jimmy Masagca, Dr. Susan Mercado, Dr. Richard Muallil, Dr. Emma Porio, Dr. Patricia Ann Sanchez, Engineer Merriam Santillan, Dr. Encarnacion Emilia Yap, Dr. Maria Angela Zafra, and Dr. Doracie Zoleta-Nantes.

The members will be addressing climate-related questions sectioned into 11 sub-topics: a.) Salt Intrusion in Rice Fields, b.) Climate Change Effect on Fisheries, c.) Pampanga Flooding, d.) Natural Resource Damage Assessment in Agriculture, e.) Climate Induced Health Risks, f.) Disaster Resilient Livelihoods in Rural Areas, g.) Humanitarian Action, Gender and Food Security in Climate Change, h.) Coral Reef and Marine Life Conservation, i.) Coastal Area Sea Level Rise. j.) Sustainable Finance and Circular Economy, and k.) Hydrology and Water Scarcity in Metro Manila. 

The session will be moderated by DOF Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Paola Alvarez, and will be livestreamed from Zoom via the RTVM, DOF, and the CCC’s Official Facebook Pages or by going to bit.ly/CCNPTEbriefing. For more information, visit www.dof.gov.ph. 

According to data gathered by the DOF, the Philippines’ total estimated losses and damages from 2010 to 2020 from climate hazards have already reached a staggering P515.51 billion (around US$10.6 billion). 

Despite being an insignificant contributor to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions globally—as the country accounts for only 0.3 percent of the global pollution—the numbers reaffirm the CCC’s need to come up with more climate resilient action plans for a high risk developing economy like the Philippines.

Last October 13, the Department launched the newly reconstituted NPTE under the CCC. 

In the following months, NPTE identified the Top 10 climate-induced risks in the Philippines and then presented action plans and strategies to the DOF.

Finance Secretary Dominguez adopted the actions and further instructed the CCC to integrate the NPTE’s presentations with the National Climate Change Action Plan. 

Dominguez is chairman-designate of the CCC and headed the Philippine delegation at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland.

At the COP26 summit, Dominguez said "We realize that we are one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and we have decided to take action on our own and we will not wait for international agreements on climate change. However, we hope that this COP26 will result in positive action and will start the flow of funds to help countries."

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