The Climate Change Commission (CCC) of the Philippines has urged financial institutions to ramp up financing of green, climate-smart and sustainable projects.
These projects will enable the country to achieve its goals in mitigating the impact of climate change.
The Commission, in partnership with the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, recently brought together representatives from the government and the private sector, according to a recent report.
The meeting aimed to discuss the role of public finance and private sector investments in the implementation of the country’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the historical 2015 climate change agreement.
Climate finance is currently limited in terms of availability and there is no other way but to be strategic in terms of funnelling in climate finance from various sources.
National Integrated Risk Information System
According to the Climate Secretary, the government is addressing the shortage of risk information by establishing a National Integrated Risk Information System.
Having this will entice financial institutions to ramp up financing for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.
The National Integrated Risk Information System is an integrated platform that will join all the available vulnerability and risk information in the country.
Access to the system will be given to all the stakeholders, which includes the financial and private sectors.
Aside from that, the Commission is also assisting the Office of Civil Defence in the development of the loss and damage registry protocols for valuation and validation.
Doing so could provide the insurance sector with a better picture of risk prevalence.
Raising targets to meet the NDC
The UNFCCC Director for Finance, Technology and Capacity Building explained that it is critical for countries to raise targets this year, ahead of the implementation that is slated for next year.
This is the last opportunity to enhance action in the pre-2020 period.
It also hounds the roles of the new rounds of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), making 2019 the year to guarantee that these new or updated NDCs reflect the increased ambition needed to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
196 Parties came together in 2015 under the Paris Agreement to transform their development trajectories in order to set the world on a course towards sustainable development.
They aimed to limit warming to 1.5 to 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.
NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of these long-term goals.
These embody the efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Other Commission initiatives
The Climate Change Commission, moreover, is reportedly fast-tracking the development of standards and certification system for providing incentives to enterprises that generate and sustain “green” jobs.
According to RA 10771 or the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016, green jobs are defined as “employment that contributes to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment, be it in the agriculture, industry or services sector.”
The Commission aims to start the implementation of the system, which will certify business enterprises that comply with RA 10771, next year.
Additionally, they are also expediting the update of the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) using a whole-of-government-and-society approach.
The revised NCCAP will include the National Adaptation Plan, which presents the climate actions in seven priority areas.
It will also include the country’s NDC, which defines the country’s target of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
