President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday signed into law the “Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Board Act,” which gives juridical personality and legal capacity to the governing body that would manage the international funding aid for vulnerable countries affected by climate change.
The President, on August 28, signed Republic Act No. 12019 into law which grants juridical personality and legal capacity to the Loss and Damage Fund Board which the Philippines will host after being elected last month to host the L&D Fund.
Under the law, the board shall have juridical personality with full legal capacity to contract, acquire and dispose immovable and movable property, and institute legal proceedings; and the legal capacity to negotiate, conclude, and enter into a hosting arrangement with the World Bank as interim trustee and host of the Fund’s secretariat.
Finance secretary Ralph Recto said the Philippines is poised to set a global gold standard for climate finance and action with the enactment of the LDF Board Act.
“The LDF Board Act is one of many decisive actions we take to escalate our climate initiatives and solidify the Philippines’ leadership in championing the voices of those most impacted by climate change. We are determined for our hosting to set the gold standard for climate finance and action, not just across Asia and the Pacific, but around the globe,” Recto said in a statement yesterday.
By hosting the LDF Board, the Philippines will play a leading role in helping attract significant support from developed countries and development partners to provide concrete financial contributions in averting, minimizing and addressing losses and damages.
It will also serve as an avenue for the Philippines to showcase its initiatives, reforms and science-based innovations on adaptation and mitigation actions as well as disaster risk management aligned with its national plans and strategies.
The Philippines, as a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, had lauded the creation of the fund which would be tapped to finance and assist the most vulnerable developing countries’ response and recovery from losses and damages caused by climate change.
It shall also be used for responding to loss and damages under previous climate conferences and agreements.
President Marcos Jr. had personally advocated for the Philippines’ hosting of the L&D Board.
The L&D Board is composed of 26 members from parties to the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, with 12 members from developed country Parties and 14 members from developing country Parties.
The Philippines as a member of the Board will occupy one oof the three seats for Asia-Pacific States, and would be represented by lawyer Mark Dennis Joven, with ambassador and deputy permanent representative Leila Lora-Santos as Board Adviser. J. Montemayor and A. Celis
