DENR chief cites framework for special climate fund

DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yuloloyzaga vowed to implement projects under the 8th cycle of the Global Environment Facility (GEF 8) anchored on a sound, scientific foundation.

Yulo-loyzaga’s assurance was contained in a speech delivered by DENR Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-the during the kick-off ceremony of the GEF National Multi-stakeholders Dialogue in Taguig City last January 18.

Projects in the GEF—A “multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity”—is expected to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits and would support the accounting valuation of the country’s natural resources and accelerate the appropriate management of the country’s environmental assets, the DENR chief said.

It was learned that under the GEF 8, the Philippines has one of the largest allocations in the Asean with over 120 projects and programming totaling over $727 million. Learning from its experience in implementing past GEF projects, the DENR said it hopes to address identified gaps.

The latter include: lack of policy coherence and integration between effective climate change adaptation and biodiversity actions; weak science-policy linkage and data generation in the environment and natural resource management; limited knowledge development and management; and, inadequate innovative financing mechanism to support sustainable resource management.

“The fund marked an important point of progress in ensuring that vulnerable countries are provided the needed support,” Loyzaga said. “Further, the Philippines hopes to receive soon from the GEF Secretariat the guidance to the operating entities on the finance mechanism to support technology development, transfer and diffusion.”

Planet, people

THE DENR, the DENR chief said, also hopes to advance the country’s efforts to address environmental issues by tackling the drivers of ecological degradation and strengthening the country’s commitments to multilateral environmental agreements and contributing to global environmental benefits, supporting integrated approaches and ensuring that programs are inclusive and prioritizes the most vulnerable.

The projects are being eyed “to help realign private sector capital to achieve wider scale and impact, empower local communities to harness their contributions, strengthen their capacities, protect their livelihoods, uplift their socio-economic conditions and enhance resilience.”

According to Loyzaga, the sound, scientific foundation of the projects would also strengthen the national geospatial database for natural resources as a platform programmatic planning.

“We live in a multi-hazard environment and due consideration must be given to addressing highly differentiated and local scale impacts on food, water, energy and human security from ridge to reef,” Loyzaga said in her speech.

The Philippines continues to face more complex challenges in advancing goals toward achieving ecosystem integrity while building a more resilient and inclusive post-pandemic community, she added.

This, she said, calls on the Philippines to optimize the opportunity to review and finalize the country’s portfolio of projects under GEF 8 by developing projects that respond to the needs and priorities of the country.

As such, she said the “healthy planet, healthy people” framework as the heart of the overall global GEF 8 emphasizes the critical connection between humanity and the environment, highlighting the importance of urgent environmental threats reduction and protection of natural resources in order to improve human well-being.

Systematic, transformational

ACCORDING to Loyzaga, the GEF 8 calls for a “systematic and transformational” strategy that responds to the urgency of raising ambitions.

“The Philippines is geared up to work with GEF as its staunch partnership in strengthening national commitments to multilateral environment agreements while enhancing and institutionalizing capabilities to translate these commitments into meaningful actions to support sustainable development,” she said.

Loyzaga said the Philippines “deeply values such exercises to design the integrated approaches needed” for several tasks. The latter includes the following: addressing “the intersectional ties between development, climate change, biodiversity and disaster resilience”; adopting a “comprehensive risk-management approach ”; and, optimizing the resources available to improve quality of life.

In her speech, the DENR chief reminded the participants of the dialogue to recall the decisions of the recently concluded sessions of the Conference of Parties (COP).

She noted that the GEF, as a financing mechanism for the COP conventions, translates COP directives into operational guidelines for GEF projects.

Loyzaga, who led the Philippine delegation to the recent COP, took part in the sealing of the groundbreaking agreements during the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), which resulted in the adoption of the Kunming-montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) that features concrete measures to halt and reverse nature loss, including putting 30 percent off the planet and 30 percent fo degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030.

COP 27, meanwhile, ended with a breakthrough agreement to provide finance to “Loss and Damage,” particularly for developing countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis.