Why the Nationally Determined Contribution is key to PH development

THE remaining days of 2020 are critical for the Philippines. Though this year’s annual United Nations Climate Change Conference has been postponed to 2021 because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, we, as a country, are expected to submit our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) before this year ends.

The NDC is the roadmap that outlines each country’s post-2020 climate actions. It embodies the efforts of each country to increase its ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change and, as a climate plan, reflects the country’s ambition to foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emission development, taking into account its domestic circumstances and capabilities. It is at the heart of the Paris Agreement, the historic accord signed by 196 countries in 2015.

As each country contributes to the transformation of development pathways that would limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and sets the trajectories toward sustainable development, the Paris Agreement requires each country to prepare, communicate and maintain successive NDCs that it intends to achieve. Each country is expected to pursue mitigation measures with the aim to achieve the objectives of such contributions. Collectively, these climate actions would determine whether we would achieve the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.

In October 2015, the Philippines communicated its intended NDC to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As the Paris Agreement entered into force in the Philippines in April 2017 and, as embodied in our State of Declaration signed by the President, the Philippines will submit its first NDC before 2020.

Furthermore, in the State of Declaration, the “accession to and implementation of the Paris Agreement by the Republic of the Philippines is for the purpose of supporting the country’s national development objectives and priorities,” which include sustainable industrial development, eradication of poverty and provision of basic needs, securing social and climate justice, and energy security.

The Climate Change Commission (CCC), as lead policymaking body on climate change “has been facilitating the development of the Nationally Determined Contribution, implementing a whole-of-government approach to ensure an inclusive process and to foster ownership within and among relevant national government agencies and institutions.”Our NDC envisions to present a paradigm shift to a climate-resilient and low-carbon development aligned with national policies and strategies, and premised within the country’s sustainable development goals and international commitments.

According to the CCC, our NDC will be based on the overarching national policy and planning frameworks which include, among others, the Philippine Development Plan, National Framework Strategy on Climate Change, National Climate Change Action Plan, Philippine Energy Plan, and AmBisyon Natin 2040. It will guide the country’s long- term economic and investment planning. It will open up significant investment opportunities that would support the country’s goal in achieving its optimum industrialization potential and sustainable development goals.

It is, therefore, imperative that the government situates itself strategically in the course of the transition of our economy as fast as technologically feasible and practicable into a low-carbon and sustainable development, protecting without compromise the interests of the Filipino people, especially of those most vulnerable.

CCC Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman, in a statement during the Climate Vulnerable Forum Leaders’ Event hosted by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh earlier this month, said: “Now is not the time to cower behind excuses. Cowardice today will only let the youth remember who the pariahs were in the international community during the time of their greatest need. The Midnight Hour on the 31st of December is upon us. It will determine the future of generations to come. It will set the kind of future that leaders today choose for midnight’s children.”The event also launched the Midnight Survival Deadline for the Climate — calling on all nations to submit their updated NDCs under the Paris Agreement before midnight of Dec. 31, 2020.

Why the NDC is key to our development

The CCC said our NDC would support the long-standing narrative of climate justice, principles of equity, and advancing national interests. It added that while our country’s right and that of other developing countries to development must be respected, the Philippine already has a long list of climate policies and mitigation measures since 1991, which embodies our continuous commitment to climate action and protecting our citizens against the impacts of the changing environment.

Our NDC will once again demonstrate our firm position and leadership towards achieving a sustainable future. Under the principle of equity and fair share, while our contributions to global emissions are small, we must continue to contribute our share of climate action that sends a strong message to developed nations that those with greater historical responsibility and capacities — technical, financial, and/ or technological — should put forward more ambitious goals. In a business-as-usual scenario, our economic growth will generate even higher emissions and other environmental destruction.

Our NDC will exemplify what the country has been doing and our commitment to continually step-up our efforts in battling climate change, with the ultimate goal of transforming communities and industries into adaptive, resilient and sustainable pillars of society. It will be achieved by recognizing our “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances” — the core principle of the Paris Agreement.

With no doubt, even before climate impacts are taken into consideration, the cost of inaction and taking the high-carbon development pathway will cost us more in the long-term. The use of technology for climate change mitigation is increasingly becoming more cost-efficient than highcarbon alternatives, making them economically competitive and attractive for both the public and private sectors. Hence, the NDC will be an instrument that would set an enabling environment for these transformational changes.

The key sectors in our NDC include agriculture, waste, industry, transport, forestry and energy. Even without the emissions reduction associated with our climate actions, our initiatives will stand as clear-cut choices moving forward as these entail opportunities such as energy independence, rehabilitated and preserved forests, sustained ecosystems, livable cities, clean air and water, a healthy environment, sustainable production and consumption, efficient, sustainable, and non- intrusive use of natural resources, among other things, while preventing further human-induced climate deviances.

Further, our NDC will serve as a catalyst in seizing investment opportunities that would capture socially beneficial aspects of climate action, improving the overall welfare of society, avoiding burdensome trade offs, and advancing equitable socioeconomic development goals through systems already embedded and built-in within the core of our institutions. The author is the executive director Forum and a nonresident fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute. He completed his climate change and development course at the University of East Anglia( United Kingdom) and an executive program at Yale University( USA ). You can reachhimatludwig.federigan@gmail.com.