PMCJ to Philippine Government: Demand Global North to Pay Their Climate Debt, Stand Firm on Vulnerable Countries’ Interests in Hosting the Loss and Damage Fund
- Media Communications
- Dec 2, 2024
- 3 min read
We have been proving, time and again, that rich nations must be accountable for their contributions to the climate crisis. At the fourth meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) Board this week, the calls we have been voicing will be repeated and amplified for the government to heed.
Despite the bad deal for climate finance(1) at the recent COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, an agreement was also signed to formalize the significant role of the Philippines in hosting the Loss and Damage (L&D) Fund Board. More than a welcome opportunity, hosting the L&D Fund is both symbolic and profound, as we must focus on the interests of the vulnerable sectors–who mainly suffer from the climate crisis.
Zooming in on Article 8 of the 2015 Paris Agreement(2), the Parties recognized the need to address the adverse effects of climate change which result in loss and damage. However, Parties since then have been missing the point of why was loss and damage established in the first place. The opaque language of the text to exact liability and recognize the fund as a part of the compensation of the developed countries for damages and harms done diluted the concept of loss and damage. For one, loss and damage should make the polluters and rich countries pay for their contribution to global emissions resulting in the climate catastrophe we face today.
Loss and damage are more than compensation, it is a restorative approach to justice for vulnerable communities and nations disproportionately affected by climate impacts. This only means that loss and damages should be direct, equitable, and accessible. It is high time that the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDRRC), within the UNFCCC, should be recognized. The CBDRRC must be integrated into the operationalization of the L&D Fund–to account for the short-term, long-term, permanent and cumulative impacts of the climate crisis. The cost of catastrophic typhoons are trillion of dollars of damages in agriculture, infrastructure, and various fields, on top of lives lost–L&D Fund should account both for economic and non-economic impacts.
Insofar as the fund is concerned, a total of $731 million(3) are the pooled out pledges from developed countries after diligent negotiations during the COP29 according to UNFCCC. This very low funding commitment to the L&D Fund compared to how much is needed (not less than $400-$600 billion/year for economic losses and damages in the Global South) is just crumbs from their long-standing extraction of wealth and resources in the Global South, while simultaneously profiting in ruining the environment.
We also stress that what we need are reparations; not charity, loan, or investment. It is only just, that the countries of the south must receive payments for reparation for the human rights violation on the right to water, food, work, health, shelter, and development caused by continued greenhouse gas emissions and extraction of wealth by northern countries. Polluting countries must put their money in the form of grants to the L&D Fund, and ensure direct access by people and communities.
The Global North's failure to adequately address L&D is not just neglect; it is a betrayal that condemns the future of the people and planet. Being a host country of the L&D fund should be a wake up call to the Philippines to finally act on the hundreds of lives lost in an overnight rainfall, deadly health impacts of fossil-fueled plants in mountains and seas.
On behalf of thousands of vulnerable communities in the Philippines, and the Peoples of the Global South, we should not submit ourselves to the global north countries’ selfish solution to the climate crisis. Our demand for a livable future free from this existential threat must stand and rally the people towards a systemic action for climate justice. We call for the Philippine government to stand for the rights and lives of the 99%, and not fall for false talks of solutions that further endanger our lives and the very earth we live in. ###
FOR INQUIRIES:
Sheila Abarra
Senior Media and Communications Officer
Philippine Movement for Climate Justice
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