DENR: Climate financing to begin in December but pledges not enough
Starting December, the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) will begin its call for funding requests to countries seeking financial support due to the impacts of climate change.
But pledges from 28 countries to the funding program managed by the World Bank are still lacking at the current total of $768 million (P45.12 trillion).
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the amount still “falls far short of the vast and growing needs on the ground.”
“The success of FRLD interventions is inherently linked to the availability of resources,” the DENR said, adding that the call for funding requests will still remain open for six months.
“Developing countries wishing to access the fund directly or in partnership with access entities are invited to engage with the FRLD Secretariat as they are coordinating the preparation of their funding requests,” the DENR said.
Initial allocation
The DENR’s announcement followed after the FRLD board’s approval of the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM)—a framework governing the provision of grants, with its initial allocation amounting to $250 million (P14.69 trillion).
BIM was launched during a meeting in Manila by the FRLD board from Oct. 7 to 9. The Philippines is the board’s current host, assuming the responsibility in July last year.
The DENR said the grants range from $5 million to $20 million (P293 million to P1.18 trillion) for each climate-related intervention.
“The launch of the BIM is a testament to our commitment to start providing support to vulnerable developing nations,” FRLD executive director Ibrahima Cheikh Diong said in a briefing on Oct. 10.
“We will continue to refine this funding mechanism, shaping how the FRLD will deliver support to communities grappling with the irreversible impacts of climate change in the future,” he said.
‘Momentum’
FRLD was established by the COP (Conference of Parties) 27 in 2022 to tackle the growing needs of vulnerable communities in developing countries that have been adversely affected by the “irreversible” impacts of climate change.
The fund aims to finance recovery initiatives while ensuring that these interventions are aligned to a particular country’s needs and priorities.
The DENR said the need for the fund “has never been more urgent,” with the board’s meeting occurring at a “critical time” given the “worsening climate crisis that is heightening vulnerabilities.”
Diong said the work of the FRLD board “is just beginning,” adding that “the initial pledges are a good start, but we must now build upon this momentum.”
In his welcome message during the board meeting, Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the FRLD was “only a fraction” of the estimated climate loss and damage of around $200 to $400 billion worldwide by 2030, only five years away.
By 2027, the FRLD board will initiate its first replenishment process to address this “critical gap” in funding, said the DENR—with preparations for a resource mobilization strategy also expected to begin.
“Our task is to develop and refine a strategy based on the Board’s feedback and develop a concrete action plan to secure the substantial and additional funding required to fulfil our mandate,” Diong said.
