Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has secured more support from Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa for the Philippines’ climate action efforts during a high-level meeting on August 28, 2024, at the ADB Headquarters in Ortigas.
At the meeting, President Asakawa announced that the ADB is finalizing the approval of a USD 500 million financing support to the Philippines under the Climate Change Action Program (CCAP) Subprogram 2.
The program is part of the ADB’s USD 10 billion climate finance commitment for the Philippines from 2024 and 2029, which was announced by President Asakawa during the COP28 in Dubai in 2023.
The financing commitment aims to improve the climate resilience of local communities, ecosystems, and the national economy. It focuses on investments in public transport, clean energy, disaster risk management, and social protection.
The CCAP2 builds on the accomplishments of the CCAP1 signed in June 2022, which made the Philippines a pioneer of the ADB’s first-ever policy-based loan dedicated to climate action.
In addition, President Asakawa pledged to continue leveraging regional facilities, such as the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), to enhance the availability and accessibility of grant financing in the Philippines.
He also revealed that the ADB’s new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for the Philippines for 2024 to 2029 will be reviewed for consideration by the ADB Board next week.
The CPS focuses on critical areas, including human development, economic competitiveness, quality infrastructure, climate action, and private sector development.
Furthermore, the ADB President shared that the Bank recently held its first meeting on the ASEAN Climate Finance Policy Platform, which will support Southeast Asian finance ministry leaders in advancing collective climate action.
Meanwhile, President Asakawa affirmed the ADB’s full support to the Philippines for winning the bid to host the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Board, emphasizing that this will further cement the country’s leadership on climate change issues in the region.
The LDF is a global financial mechanism designed to provide support to countries’ response and recovery from losses and damages caused by climate change. The 26-member LDF Board selected the Philippines as the host during its second board meeting in Songdo, South Korea last July 9, 2024.
President Asakawa likewise congratulated the Philippines for co-hosting the first regional Asia-Pacific meeting of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action (CFMCA), which was done in partnership with the ADB, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), NDC Partnership, and the World Bank (WB) from August 27 to 28, 2024 in Manila.
In response, Secretary Recto expressed gratitude to President Asakawa for the Bank’s steadfast support for the Philippines and the Filipino people, noting that ADB is currently the country’s top multilateral partner and second-largest source of official development assistance (ODA) commitments.
The Finance Chief assured the ADB that the Philippine government has strong political will to ensure that ODA projects are implemented with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
President Asakawa reaffirmed the ADB’s commitment to working closely with the DOF to guarantee the effective implementation of the CPS and deliver tangible results for Filipinos as well as resolve any implementation challenges on projects through smoother coordination.
ADB executives who were present during the meeting were Justine Diokno-Sicat, Executive Director for the Philippines; Winfried Wicklein, Director General of the Southeast Asia Department; Pavit Ramachandran, Country Director for the Philippines Country Office; and Harumi Kodama, Assistant Secretary.
Also present were Cristina Lozano, Principal Country Specialist for the Philippines Country Office; Naeeda Crishna Morgado, Senior Infrastructure Specialist (Climate Finance); Haruto Takimura, Chief Advisor to the President; Juvy Danofrata, Director’s Advisor for the Philippines; and Julius Casabal, Senior Climate Change Officer, Climate Change, Resilience, and Environment Cluster.
Meanwhile, joining Secretary Recto were Undersecretaries Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco, Joven Balbosa, Catherine Fong, and Rolando Tungpalan; Assistant Secretary Donalyn Minimo; and Director John Adrian Narag.
