Banks urged to support ‘climate-smart’ projects

MANILA, Philippines — The Climate Change Commission (CCC) has urged financial institutions to ramp up financing of green, climate-smart and sustainable projects that will enable the country to achieve its goals in mitigating the impact of climate change.

The CCC, in partnership with the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, recently brought together representatives from the government and the private sector to discuss the role of public finance and private sector investments in the implementation of the country’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the landmark 2015 climate change agreement.

Climate Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman said the government is addressing the shortage of risk information to entice financial institutions to ramp up financing for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.

“We are working on the establishment of a National Integrated Risk Information System, an integrated platform that will converge all available vulnerability and risk information in the country. This will be made accessible to all stakeholders, including the financial and private sector,” he said.

“In addition to that, we are also assisting the Office of Civil Defense in developing loss and damage registry and protocols for valuation and validation, which could provide the insurance sector with a better picture of risk prevalence,” he added.

Daniele Violetti, UNFCCC director for finance, technology and capacity building, said this year is critical for countries to raise targets ahead of implementation slated next year.

“It is our last opportunity to enhance action in the pre-2020 period. It also hounds the roles of the new rounds of NDCs, making 2019 the year to ensure that these new or updated NDCs reflect the increased ambition needed to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement,” he said.

CCC commissioner Rachel Herrera noted that climate finance is currently limited in terms of availability. 

“There is no other recourse but to be strategic in terms of funneling in climate finance from various sources and channeling them to those who need it most,” she added.