MANILA – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) has emphasized the importance of setting a global climate finance target that complements the needs of developing countries.
This, as CCC vice chairperson and executive director Robert Borje, during the recently-concluded preparatory meeting for the 27th Session of Conference of the Parties (COP27), said the New Quantified Goal on Climate Finance must include the “key elements on transparency, responsiveness, and scale.”
“Towards substantial progress in climate finance delivery by 2025, VCED Borje highlighted that discussions stressed that the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance must be anchored on the needs of the developing nations, and entail key elements on transparency, responsiveness, and scale,” the CCC said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“The Philippines likewise emphasized that climate finance must be accurately reported while being needs-based, and commensurate to the need of potential recipients,” it said in another post.
Borje served as co-facilitator of discussions on global agenda for climate finance during the PRECOP27 held in Kinshasa, Congo from Oct. 3 to 5.
The climate finance session, co-lead by Poland, was also attended by Angola, Argentina, Chad, Denmark, Germany, Ghana, Japan, the Maldives, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United States, Zambia, and the European Union Commission.
The participants, the CCC said, discussed the fulfillment of the USD100-billion financial commitment by developed countries under the Paris Agreement, as well as the need to set a higher climate finance target through the New Collective Quantified Goal of the Glasgow Climate Pact.
The CCC said the Philippines, as co-facilitator, helped ensure that discussions were anchored on developed nations’ resolve to support developing countries, particularly those “at risk and vulnerable,” as provided in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.
“From the USD100 billion climate finance commitment of developed countries under the Paris Agreement, the New Collective Quantified Goal must set a higher target for climate finance to help implement climate change-related strategies and measures,” it said.
“With a view to realizing climate justice for vulnerable and at-risk developing nations, the Philippines underscored that access by least developed and developing countries to financial mechanisms must be streamlined and simplified,” it added.
The CCC said the countries that attended the session sought the immediate mobilization of climate finance, as they acknowledged the need “to go beyond the USD100 billion to provide sufficient support to at-risk developing nations.”
It added that the state parties stressed the need to be “innovative, creative and flexible” in tapping financial resources both from public and private sources toward low-carbon and climate-resilient development, consistent with Article 2 of the Paris Agreement.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, in partnership with the Arab Republic of Egypt as the incoming COP27 Presidency, and the UNFCCC, convened around 60 countries in Kinshasa for PRECOP27 to advance the discussions on major climate issues ahead of COP27.
“PRECOP27 in Kinshasa provides parties and partners a vital opportunity to discuss at length what is important for all in order to make significant headway in addressing climate change and its impacts, particularly for developing at-risk and vulnerable states like the Philippines,” Borje said.
The COP27 Presidency and the UNFCCC will be convening the heads of delegations to an informal consultation on mitigation and finance on Oct. 13 to 15 in Alexandria, Egypt.
COP27, on the other hand, will be held on Nov. 6 to 18 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. (PNA)
