Finance Assistant Secretary Paola Alvarez (File photo)
MANILA – Developed countries have yet to deliver on the promised USD100 billion climate change financing to developing countries but the Philippine government has started capacity building and policy foundations to easily implement its programs.
In a virtual pre-26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) briefing on Tuesday, Finance Assistant Secretary Paola Alvarez said the government has started working with the private sector regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
She said especially in developed countries, it is the big companies such as Amazon and e-Bay that have big greenhouse gas emissions compared to developing countries.
“So, if they actually start implementing climate mitigation and adaptation strategies it would actually make a bigger dent. And at the same time how we respond to disasters and resiliency efforts would be greatly affected as well,” she said.
Alvarez also highlighted the need to capacitate the local communities and the local governments to implement climate change-related measures.
These moves, she said, need a lot of funding, thus, the importance to ensure that developed countries provide the needed financing.
The Philippine delegates will be presenting these concerns during the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, 2021, she said.
“We will champion climate change justice and we will push that developed countries actually pay up in terms of financing,” she said.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin will lead the Philippine delegation to COP26, which also includes representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Office of the President, and the Department of Energy.
Alvarez said the team will be pushing for the adoption of viable transparency and a reporting mechanism that will not be stringent for developing countries to comply with. (PNA)
