THE Department of Finance (DoF) said it is pushing for an initial climate finance target of $1.3 trillion from wealthy nations to fund developing nations’ climate mitigation projects.
“In the wake of Typhoon Pepito — the sixth typhoon to strike the Philippines in less than a month — the DoF has been pushing for an initial climate finance target of $1.3 trillion annually from developed countries….,” it said in a statement on Monday.
This will finance climate, adaptation and mitigation projects, while addressing losses and damage in developing nations.
Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, are advocating supporting an annual funding target of $1.1 trillion, with $441 billion coming directly from developed nations in the form of grants.
India, African nations, and small island states have also called for raising over $1 trillion per year, though they differ on the share that should be contributed by wealthy countries.
The wealthy countries expected to provide these funds have not set a specific target, but both the US and the EU agree that it should exceed the previous $100-billion goal.
“That is why here at COP29, the Philippines is aggressively pushing for bold action and sustained, increased financing once and for all for countries that are perpetually on the frontlines of catastrophic typhoons,” Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati C. Dorotan Tiuseco said during the High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance.
The DoF said it remains determined to utilize all available resources and implement tools across fiscal and financial sectors to strengthen disaster resilience, reduce economic impacts, and ensure financial protections for those affected by climate-induced disasters.
The Finance department is leading negotiations for scaled-up climate finance flows to vulnerable nations during the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante