GLASGOW—Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III discussed here Tuesday how the Philippines as a developing economy and climate-vulnerable country has been spearheading initiatives to broaden the participation of the financial sector in mobilizing funds and investments to squarely address the ill effects of the climate crisis.
During the Green Finance Session jointly hosted by TIME Magazine Singapore and the Philippine Department of Finance (DOF), Secretary Dominguez also pointed out that the Philippines is proceeding with its adaptation and mitigation programs on the ground without waiting for the annual US$100-billion climate financing pledge made by developed countries in 2020 to materialize, given that time is fast running out on current global efforts to fight climate change.
But he made it clear that the Philippines was maintaining its position that developed countries should get their act together to deliver on this financing commitment made 12 years ago to assist climate-vulnerable countries in mitigating the disastrous effects of global warming.
As the Chairman-designate of the Climate Change Commission (CCC), Secretary Dominguez earlier committed to making the Philippines a model for other countries in mitigating the impact of this worsening crisis.
The Philippines has submitted as its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement a projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and avoidance of 75 percent from 2020 to 2030 for agriculture, wastes, industry, transport, and energy sectors.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa opened the TIME Green Finance Session by highlighting the Bank’s ongoing efforts to back green development and financing mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region and accelerate the flow of funding support to its member economies for their climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives.
The TIME panel also included Mr. Ahmed Saeed, the ADB’s Vice President for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific; and Mr. Jonathan Pershing, the United States (US) Deputy Special Envoy for Climate.
Vice President Saeed and Mr. Pershing gave their insights on green finance, how developing countries like the Philippines can make progress in meeting their GHG emissions targets amid the financial challenges they face in achieving these goals, and how multilateral institutions and countries like the US can assist them.
Moderated by TIME brand editor Mark Barton, the panel also briefly discussed the impact of rapid technological advances during the COVID-19 pandemic and how these highlight the need to “build back better” after the health crisis by taking into account measures to fight climate change; raising private sector capital for green financing; and the importance of climate-resilient infrastructure and technology transfers in executing adaptation and mitigation programs.
In 2009, developed countries committed to collectively mobilize US$100 billion each year in climate finance by 2020 to support programs by developing countries to meet their respective GHG emission reduction targets and adapt to the devastating effects of climate change.
These developed countries, which are largely responsible for the world’s GHG emissions, have yet to fulfill this pledge.
Secretary Dominguez and other leaders from developing countries are expected to press these countries in the ongoing COP26 to make good on their financing commitments, along with significantly scaling up their GHG emission reduction goals.
The details of the TIME panel discussions are slated to be released and amplified on TIME.com and the social platforms of TIME on Nov. 8.
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