MANILA -- In 2021, President Duterte designated Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III as his official representative to the Climate Change Commission (CCC), a move that signaled a paradigm shift in the way the Philippines is tackling the worsening climate crisis sweeping the globe.

As the President’s official representative to the CCC, Dominguez announced that the government’s intensified drive versus climate change will shift from merely theorizing and talking about this increasingly alarming concern, to implementing practical and doable projects on the ground to adapt to, and mitigate, its destructive effects. 

“What is global must now be addressed at the local level. What was theoretical now demands practical applications on the ground,” he said.

The destruction wrought by typhoon “Odette” in several parts of the Visayas and Mindanao before the close of 2021 underscored the urgency of adopting this strategy against erratic weather patterns touched off by rising world temperatures.

Dominguez also cited the need to continuously improve on the Philippines’ whole-of-nation approach of making climate risk information more available, understandable, and actionable in a timely manner to communities. He underscored the importance of capacitating local governments in understanding risks and how these should be addressed by implementing effective adaptation and mitigation measures.   

Shortly after Dominguez was assigned to the CCC, the Philippines transmitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in April a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that commits the country to “a projected GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction and avoidance of 75 percent, of which 2.71 percent is unconditional and 72.29 percent is conditional, representing the country’s ambition for GHG mitigation for the period 2020 to 2030 for the sectors of agriculture, wastes, industry, transport and energy.”

He likewise reiterated that the Philippine government cannot achieve this target alone. International support, especially in finance, is needed as the Philippines only accounts for 0.3% of the global GHG emissions yet, it suffers tremendously from the intensified typhoons that are now entering the Philippines in times that were historically non-typhoon seasons. 

Dominguez had prodded stakeholders during the consultative meetings on the NDC to aim high in reducing the Philippines’ carbon footprint as he wants the country to be a world leader in making a difference in the battle against the climate crisis. 

Localized climate adaptation and mitigation programs are vital to help “build the resilience of our communities, reverse the degradation, and protect our vital food sources,” Dominguez said. 

He subsequently stressed this necessary approach to the climate crisis at the 26th (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, 2021. 

Dominguez headed the Philippine delegation to COP26, the first time that a finance secretary was sent to represent the President at the global climate change conference. 

In the series of meetings in Glasgow, Dominguez and the rest of the delegation underscored the crucial role of global finance in achieving the climate goals of developing countries and in significantly cutting the planet’s GHG emissions.

The delegation also demanded greater accountability from Western countries that have contributed and continue to contribute the most to global warming and pollution.

“The meetings at the COP26 have largely focused on consensus regarding certain principles and parameters on climate change without a clear understanding of how global finance can play a significant part in moving the climate agenda along. Without resolving this critical question, it is impossible to achieve the US$ 100-billion goal, much less come out with a higher achievable target,” Dominguez said. 

He was referring to the 2009 commitment of developed countries to channel US$100 billion per year by 2020 to the climate adaptation and mitigation initiatives of developing countries.  

This commitment remains unfulfilled and developing countries like the Philippines had demanded at the start of COP26 that the world’s wealthiest economies, which are responsible for most GHG emissions, make good on their pledge made 12 years ago.

The Glasgow climate pact reaffirmed the long-term global goal to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. 

On climate finance, the text of the pact said the countries agreed to double the proportion of financing going to climate adaptation. Developed countries again pledged to increase climate finance to developing countries for the next five years to US$500 billion but with no firm plan on how this commitment would be met. 

Dominguez said integral to this critical issue of climate finance is a clear definition of what constitutes it, which, he said, should be the “blended approach” of mixing grants for capacity building with investments for green projects and subsidies that should address the financial costs and risks of communities transitioning to a climate-resilient economy. 

He explained these three crucial elements in delivering the country’s national statement at the COP26 and during the 4th High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Long-Term Finance. 

Dominguez also pointed out that on the part of the Philippines, it has already begun implementing concrete actions to demonstrate to the world how a developing and climate-vulnerable country can lead in the fight to save the planet. 

These include, among others, reconstituting the CCC’s National Panel of Technical Experts (NPTE) representing all corners of the Philippines to engage fishermen and farmers and prepare them to execute localized action plans; the launching of the Sustainable Finance Roadmap to deploy the engines of finance to get green projects moving across the country; pushing for a law banning single-use plastics; and partnering with  the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a landmark Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) project that aims to  accelerate the Philippines’ transition from coal to clean energy, after the President declared a moratorium on new coal power plants in 2020. 

In Glasgow, the Philippines endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forest and Land Use, which committed it along with over a hundred other countries to “halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation” by 2030; the Dhaka-Glasgow Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, which underscored the demand of developing countries for developed countries to make good on their climate finance commitments and the pledge to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius; and the Global Coal to Clean Power Transition Statement on the phased transition from coal to clean electricity. 

In the Glasgow meetings, Dominguez discussed how multilateral development banks (MDBs), the private sector and governments can mobilize financing, investments and technology transfers to effectively implement the climate adaptation and mitigation projects of vulnerable countries like the Philippines. 

Dominguez also pointed out that the Philippines is proceeding with its adaptation and mitigation programs on the ground without waiting for the annual US$ 100-billion climate financing pledge made by developed countries to materialize. 

The Philippine delegation also underscored the need for strict government monitoring and guidance in climate adaptation plans because of their implications on national security and economic rights; highlighted the importance of the “blended approach” of grants, investments and subsidies to make climate finance efficiently work for its target beneficiaries; and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities” in which developed country-parties are to provide financial resources to assist developing country-parties in implementing the objectives of the UNFCCC. 

The Philippines also cited the importance of putting in place a measurable, evidenced-based and transparent outcome so that countries can report to their people the impact of all programs and policies towards climate goals; and the need for demand-driven climate finance flows, accountability and transparency in implementing climate projects. 

It also proposed several measures to operationalize the Santiago Network as an effective tool to connect vulnerable developing countries with providers of technical assistance, knowledge, and resources to address climate risks comprehensively in the context of averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage. (DOF)