Philippines vows to cut carbon waste

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will pursue its carbon waste reduction efforts ahead of a $100-billion funding pledge from rich nations, the country’s finance chief said.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the government would push through with its adaptation programs while waiting for the climate financing commitments of the developed world.

He said the country needs to mitigate the damage of weather extremities as much as it can due to the billions of pesos in economic losses it suffers every year.

Dominguez stressed that developed economies, composed mostly of states with the highest carbon emissions, should deliver on the financing they vowed to pool 12 years ago. He said the funding will assist countries most affected by climate change to roll out programs on risk mitigation.

In 2009, the world’s wealthiest nations pledged to channel $100 billion a year to developing economies. The financing will be used by the recipients to bankroll efforts in adjusting to climate change and slowing the rise in global temperature.

However, an independent expert group on climate finance said the developed world fell short in its commitment to extend to the countries at risk the funding they needed and as promised.

In a report published by the United Nations, the group said climate financing jumped from $52.2 billion in 2013 to $58.6 billion in 2016 and $78.9 billion in 2018, but will fail to reach $100 billion by 2020 at the rate it is going.

“The upward trajectory appears to have continued in 2019, but at a pace not sufficient to reach the $100 billion in 2020,” the group said.

Developing countries like the Philippines attending the 26th Conference of the Parties, or COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, are pressing their developed counterparts to honor their financing pledges.

The Philippines, for its part, vowed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent until 2030. The government also announced it would enhance Mindanao’s hydropower facilities to veer the region away from coal energy.

Based on data from the Department of Finance, economic losses to climate hazards amounted to P506.1 billion between 2010 and 2020, forfeiting an average of P48.9 billion, or 0.33 percent of the gross domestic product, yearly to weather extremities.