Higher climate funding sought by PH at COP29

THE Philippines is intensifying its push for increased funding to support vulnerable nations amid the escalating impacts of climate change, the Finance department said on Monday.

It said that Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati Dorotan Tiuseco, who is leading a department delegation at the ongoing COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, had stressed the urgency of securing robust commitments.

“We have been given an unmissable opportunity to shore up the global climate finance war chest, which for many vulnerable countries is a matter of life and death,” Tiuseco was quoted as having said during a ministerial meeting.

“That is why here at COP29, the Philippines is aggressively pushing for bold actions and sustained, increased financing once and for all for countries that are perpetually on the frontlines of catastrophic typhoons,” she added.

“We remain resolute in mobilizing all available resources and deploying tools across our fiscal and financial sectors to bolster disaster resilience, minimize economic impacts, and secure financial protections for Filipinos affected by these climate-induced disasters.”

The Finance department noted that the Philippines had just been hit by Super Typhoon Pepito — the sixth in just one month — and said that it wanted an initial annual climate finance target of $1.3 trillion for the urgent adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage needs of developing countries.

The department’s COP29 delegation, composed of negotiators from the Climate Finance Policy and International Finance Groups, is also calling for the dismantling of barriers to climate finance such as high capital costs, currency risks and debt burdens.

The Philippines is calling for streamlined, transparent, and equitable financing processes that simplify policy implementation, tracking, and verification, the Finance department said, adding that key priorities include direct access to financial mechanisms, support for country-led strategies, and expanded capacity-building initiatives.

The country also wants climate justice as the nations that are the least responsible for climate change are bearing the heaviest costs and those most accountable should address this inequity.

The COP29, or the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, began on Nov. 11 and will end on the 22nd.