MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine delegation to the United Nations climate negotiations in Egypt will continue to assert the nation's entitlement to support and assistance to fight climate change, the country’s chief negotiator said.
Environment chief Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the Philippine delegation to COP27 climate summit will reiterate the country’s “call for bolder climate action and demand the delivery of what is due for the developing countries which hardly produce any greenhouse gas emissions, yet they suffer the most and continue to bear the brunt of the adverse impacts of climate change.”
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From November 6 to 18, governments and climate campaigners will gather at the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to tackle—once again—measures to keep temperature rise under control and protect communities from the worst impacts of climate change.
“As developing countries need resources for climate adaptation, the Philippine delegation will continue calling on developed countries to step up to these obligations and deliver without delay on their commitments on climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building,” Loyzaga said.
According to a release from the environment department, the Philippine delegation to COP27 is composed of representatives from the DENR, Climate Change Commission, Department of Finance, and Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Energy.
Climate scientists as well as climate and development experts will also join government officials in Egypt.
The government has yet to release the names of officials and experts joining the delegation.The Philippines, which is among the least responsible for the warming of the planet, is bearing the brunt of climate change impacts. The country does not also have sufficient resources for adaptation and mitigation initiatives.
Philippine agenda at COP
The UN-brokered climate conference comes a week after Severe Tropical Storm Paeng (international name: Nalgae) triggered landslides and flash floods across the archipelago, killing at least 154 people.
Most of the deaths were recorded in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a region that is rarely hit by cyclones.
Loyzaga said the Philippine delegation intends to contribute most to the workstreams dealing with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, adaptation, climate finance, and loss and damage.
Article 6 of the landmark climate pact allows nations to voluntarily cooperate with each other to achieve emission reduction targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions.
Meanwhile, loss and damage refers to manifestations of climate change that cannot be avoided by adaptation and mitigation efforts. The loss and damage debate is seen to dominate the agenda at COP27.
This year’s climate summit is dubbed as the “implementation COP.”
The environment chief also said the country agrees to the operationalization and funding of the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, which aims to provide developing countries with technical assistance.
“With DENR’s Yulo heading the Philippines delegation, we expect a strong academic and science-based approach, however, this does not belie the fact that her principal Marcos Jr has a similar business-as-usual approach like the big businesses and countries at COPs—we see no stopping the big mining, reclamation, dam, and nuclear energy projects that are repackaged as climate solutions but are actually very harmful to our communities and the environment,” Lia Mai Torres, executive director of the Center for Environment Concerns Philippines, said in an email to Philstar.com.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has frequently mentioned the need to address climate change in his speeches. But climate and environment groups said that none of the chief executive’s rhetoric has translated into meaningful action so far.