House Climate Change Committee Chair Cong. Edgar Chatto welcomed the report that the country has won the bid to host the Climate Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Board.
The LDF, operationalized following the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), is a global financial mechanism designed to provide support to countries’ response and recovery from losses and damages caused by climate change.
Chatto hailed the development especially as he had filed House Bill No. 9609, or the proposed Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Act a week prior to the holding of the COP28 in UAE in the latter part of last year.
The proposed CLIMA law is said to be historic as this is the first one globally that allows for corporate climate accountability to be recognized by a state, and that provides for the payment of climate reparations to impacted communities through the establishment of a loss and damage fund.
The bill intends to institute policies and systems to address climate change; protect communities from climate change-induced losses, damages, and human rights harms; and provide mechanisms for accountability and reparations from those responsible for worsening the climate crisis—including corporate interests such as the fossil fuel industry.
Early in 2023, Chatto had cited the urgency of loss and damage or exacting accountability from major global warming contributors especially in relation to the country’s having been ranked first change in the World Risk Index 2022 when it comes to risk to adverse effects of climate change.
“Being now the first in rank, the Philippines must take the lead in exacting accountability from companies which immensely contribute to global warming. We have crossed the line, loss and damage is now as important as adaptation and mitigation,” he stated.
It can be recalled that Chatto, as Climate Change chair also pushed for a Low Carbon Economy through House Bill 7705.
The proposed legislation provides for a multi-sectoral framework for the institutionalization of a Philippine Greenhouse Gas Inventory Management and Reporting System, defines the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution pursuant to its commitment to the Paris Agreement, formulates a Local Climate Change Action Plan Quality Assessment Review System, as well as employs systems for Climate Change Expenditure Tagging, National Integrated Climate Change Database and Information Exchange System as well as Cap and Trade System.
President Ferdinand Marcos announced the election of the Philippines to host the Loss and Damage Fund Board on July 9.
The country was selected out of seven other contenders, including Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Eswatini, Togo and Kenya.
Marcos said the country is “also honored to have a seat on the Board itself, ensuring that the Philippines will be a formidable voice in promoting and advancing global climate action – an issue of critical interest to the country.”
“Hosting the Loss and Damage Fund Board reinforces our dedication to inclusivity and our leadership role in ensuring that the voices of those most affected by climate change shape the future of international climate policies,” the statement read.
The LDF was an outcome of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt in 2022.
The Board is composed of 26 members from Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement, with 12 members from developed country Parties and 14 members from developing country Parties.
The Philippines secured a seat as a member of the Board, occupying one of three seats for Asia-Pacific States at COP28. The Board member representing the Philippines is Mark Dennis Joven, a former finance undersecretary along with Board Adviser Ms. Leila Lora-Santos.