Make low-carbon innovations more affordable — Legarda

MANILA, Philippines — The government needs to foster a policy environment that will raise the participation of the financial sector in low-carbon investments, Sen. Loren Legarda said yesterday.

Legarda, head of the Philippine delegation to the 23rd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn, Germany, said the government should address uncertainties and risks that restrain lending institutions from engaging in climate change mitigation investments.

“There should be greater efforts toward making low-carbon innovations more affordable in the Philippines and increasing awareness of severe impacts of climate change to encourage more investments. Regulatory challenges and technical risks could also be covered by the government through technical assistance to help the private sector,” she said.

Low-carbon investment means allocating capital to businesses that address key clean environment concerns such as renewable energy (like wind and solar energy) and climate change mitigation.

“The huge financial resource requirement to transit to a low-carbon economy would indeed require external support. Lending institutions have a critical role to play to unlock more investments, including those from the private sector, in pursuing low-carbon and climate-resilient growth, “ Legarda said.

She said that even though the Philippine contribution to greenhouse gas emissions remains negligible at 0.31 percent, pursuing low-carbon or climate change mitigation investments is “still very much in line with international commitments and national development plans of the Philippines.”

She said the National Climate Change and the 2017-2022 Philippine Development Plan have espoused climate change mitigation strategies that would help the Philippines achieve its targets in its Nationally Determined Contributions as part of its commitment to the Paris Agreement.

Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes around the world, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems, environment experts said.