The Philippines has reiterated its call to western economies that are largely responsible for the most greenhouse gas emissions to act now in significantly reducing their carbon footprints, and to make good on their commitments to extend the financing needed by climate-vulnerable countries to transition to a clean energy future.
Carlos Dominguez, Department of Finance (DOF) secretary, said at the opening of the virtual 2021 annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) he wants to see the decades-old discussions on how to fight climate change translated into concrete actions now.
When asked during the AIIB forum what would be the biggest success that he wants to see from the 6th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to be held in Glasgow, Scotland next week, Dominguez reiterated his call for the signatories to stop talking and start acting now.
Ahead of the COP26 meeting, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released a report that said the Philippines is one of 12 countries that specifically cited climate risk management interventions as a primary objective of stimulus spending.
The report titled “From Recovery to Resilience: The Development Dimension,” said the current funding is less than a quarter of what is needed to reach the 2030 target of $300 billion annually, and the report warns that relying on private finance will not be sufficient for the neediest countries.
“We want to see from the COP26 meeting a clear transition of the Paris Agreement from being a platform for discussion to a springboard for concrete action,” he said.
“This is the 26th time that the COP will be meeting. Yet, little action has been taken.
Nothing would please us more than seeing the countries that emitted and continue to emit the most greenhouse gasses to accept the responsibility of financing the transition to carbon neutrality,” he added.
Dominguez said the Philippines would want to “see all nations in the COP26 meeting affirm the need for climate justice. Those who have polluted and continue to pollute the most must bear the largest financial burden.”
Even though the Philippines is not yet a financial powerhouse, “we are determined to punch above our weight class in green and climate finance” so that it can lead in terms of mainstreaming climate change through the financial sector, Dominguez said.
“Clearly, the Philippines is moving with urgency. But we have seen very little funding and actions promised by Western countries materialize. All that has been done is talk without concrete action,” Dominguez said at the AIIB flagship seminar on the Paris Agreement held virtually Wednesday night.
“We need the Western countries to take responsibility for having contributed and continue to contribute the most to greenhouse gas emissions. They must be given the greater burden of paying for the grants, investments and subsidies needed for the most climate-vulnerable countries to mitigate the effects of global warming,” Dominguez said.
He said these countries have “avoided the pain by buying their way out of their global obligations,” which include offering developing nations money that are insufficient to make the carbon reductions that they themselves are unwilling to make in their own economies.
