The Philippines hosted the fourth meeting of the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Board.
Cong. Edgar Chatto, chair of the House Committee on Climate Change, graced the dinner reception at the National Museum in Manila on December 2.
This is the first meeting of the LDF since it was organized and the first time since the Philippines was selected as host country of the board.
Established to help vulnerable countries recover from climate impacts, 56 countries are represented in the Board of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage.
Sec. Toni Yulo-Loyzaga and Board Co-Chair Jean-Christophe Donnellier took turns in thanking Chatto who principally authored Republic Act 12019 known as the Loss & Damage Fund Board Act which granted legal personality to the Board.
This was included in the State of the Nation Address of President Bongbong Marcos last July where he asked Congress to pass the measure in 90 days.
Chatto’s leadership in the Committee on Climate Change was hailed by both the Philippine and Foreign Officials present due to the swift passage of the law in a record time of only 60 days.
Present during the welcome dinner was Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Richard Sherman, LDF Co-Chair, and Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, LDF Exec. Director.
This meeting is particularly significant as it comes at an important stage in the Fund’s establishment and operationalization,” Loyzaga said during her opening remarks.
She highlighted that the meeting underscores the Philippines’ commitment yo the survival of its communities but also to the thriving of all nations through investments in risk-responsive social services and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Discussions would focus on refining the Fund’s operational systems, including operationalizing a bottom-up, country-led approach to strengthen national responses to loss and damage, enhancing governance mechanisms, and ensuring the effective allocation of financial resources where they are most needed.
Donnellier announced that the total pledge to the Loss and Damage Fund has now reached 731 million US dollars. The contributions came from the governments of Australia, Luxembourg, Sweden, New Zealand, and the Walloon region of Belgium.
In a related development, Chatto sponsored on the same day a bill promoting investments in low carbon economy, establishing a carbon emission pricing framework and implementation mechanism to achieve low carbon and resilient economic development during the meeting of the House Committee on Ways and Means presided over by Cong. Joey Salceda.