The Philippines has called for the immediate delivery of climate finance commitments and underscored the need to close adaptation finance gaps, including through exploring innovative sources, to support developing nations’ adaptation measures.

In a news release on Thursday, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) said the importance of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) for developing nations most at risk to and affected by climate change was emphasized at the NAP Expo 2024 in Dhaka, Bangladesh on April 22-25.

During the dialogue with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary Simon Stiell, and Bangladesh Minister for Environment, Forestry and Climate Change Saber Hossain Chowdhury, CCC Secretary Robert EA Borje underscored the importance of a holistic approach to close adaptation finance gaps.

Borje also called for a commitment to ensuring that support for developing countries’ NAP formulation and implementation is available and easily accessible.

“To close the gaps, address our growing needs, and enhance adaptation action and support, we must work collectively to determine and unlock various sources, including the UNFCCC financial mechanism, and finance options with highest concessionality, least to no conditionalities, and no additional debt burden for developing nations,” Borje said.

The UN Environment Programme’s Adaptation Gap Report 2023 estimated that support for adaptation falls short by up to USD366 billion per year.

Public finance flows for climate change adaptation from developed to developing countries have declined by 15 percent from 2021 figures, signaling the need to explore other sources for the timely implementation of adaptation measures.

“We need to go beyond the doubling of adaptation finance by 2025, and delivering on the overdue commitment of USD100 billion for developing countries’ climate actions,” Borje said. “We need to be more creative and innovative to enable our timely implementation of action plans – so that we avoid further loss and damage while building our adaptive capacities.”

Guided by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., the Philippines forges partnerships with various countries, partners, and stakeholders to augment domestic resources, enabling the implementation of climate actions in speed and scale.

In addition to the UNFCCC financial mechanism, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Borje highlighted other innovative sources of support applicable to the Philippines, such as bilateral partnerships, private sector investments, foreign-assisted support from development partners and stakeholders, and mechanisms, such as thematic bonds.

From formulation to implementation, Borje underscored the importance of climate finance throughout the iterative process of NAPs.

“NAPs should then be considered as investment plans. With sufficient finance and transparent and predictable support flows, developing nations can translate plans into concrete actions with results,” he added.

Discussions on closing adaptation finance gaps and determining the new collective quantified goal on climate finance are expected to progress at the 29th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan on Nov. 11-22.

Hosted by the UNFCCC through the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Expert Group or LEG, in collaboration with the Adaptation Committee (AC) and other constituted bodies, the NAP Expo 2024 outcomes will be further discussed in the upcoming Climate Change Conference in June 2024 in Bonn, Germany, and at the COP29. (PNA)