THE Marcos administration’s push for “climate justice,” which includes giving access to financing and new technology to vulnerable developing countries, is now gaining momentum and international recognition, according to the Climate Change Commission (CCC).
In an interview with the media on Friday evening, CCC Secretary Robert E. A. Borje disclosed his election as co-chair of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA) as a sign that more countries are acknowledging the country’s climate-related advocacies.
As one of the three chairs of the IFCMA, he will be tasked to facilitate partnerships to “fast-track higher impact and cost-effective climate change mitigation.”
“It is an indication of the growing recognition and confidence in the Marcos administration’s commitment to really work for climate action,” Borje said.
This was further reiterated, he said, with the invitation extended by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to the Philippines Mohamed Obaid Salem Alqataam Al-Zaabi to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. last month to attend the 2023 United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November.
“It is an indication of the importance given to President Marcos that the ambassador personally conveyed the invitation from his president,” Borje said.
As of press time, Malacañang has yet to confirm if the President will be participating in the event.
Loss and damages mechanism
During the COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, the Philippines, Borje said, was among the countries which called for the creation of a loss and damage mechanism to help in the climate change adaptation measures of developing countries.
Borje said he will push to operationalize the scheme during COP28.
“Hopefully, it will not take that long [to implement the mechanism]. There is momentum for the part of the developing countries and for the part of the developed countries,” he added.
The CCC chief said he already met with COP28 president-designate Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber to discuss the agenda.
“It is important for the Philippines to give its confidence to the United Arab Emirates as president of COP28. There are a lot of challenges for any COP and its presidency and we are working very hard so the partnership will translate into action on climate change,” Borje said.
Al Jaber’s designation to lead the COP28 drew criticism since he is also the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).
Existential threat
Borje said he will reiterate his appeal at the COP28 for the adoption of an emission avoidance scheme to prevent the further release of greenhouse gas (GHG) and the creation of agreed standard metrics and major physical indicators to assess adaptation, mitigation and means of implementation.
The Philippines is trying to ramp up support for the said initiatives since no less than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) tagged climate change as an existential global threat.
“This means lives are at stake and it becomes alarming for countries like the Philippines because we are a developing country, we are an archipelago and we are situated where we are and we are also a product of certain historical processes,” Borje said.
“It is really a difficult situation that we have to face and we cannot do it alone,” he added.
Despite the country contributing only a small fraction of GHG, Borje said the government is determined to achieve its target to reduce its contribution to climate change by promoting investments in renewable energy and providing capacity building opportunities for concerned agencies and local government units (LGU) to help in their adaptation and mitigation measures.
“These need to be sped up and scaled up in a coordinated manner. It is the only way we can really adopt and respond to the challenges [of climate change],” Borje said.
Image credits: judgefloro via Wikimedia CC0
PHL push for climate justice gains support – Climate Change Commission chief
Source: News Paper Radio
0 Comments