OPENING MESSAGE

SECRETARY MARIA ANTONIA YULO LOYZAGA
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and
Representative of the President,
Climate Change Commission

18th Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage Associated with Climate Change Impacts
28 February 2023, 2:00PM
Dusit Thani Manila, Makati City

Dr. Paul Desanker of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, Mr. Frode Neergaard from Denmark, Executive Committee Co-chair of the Warsaw International Mechanism (or the WIM).

From the Party-members of the ExCom, I specifically acknowledge those that are here in-person: Bangladesh, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Philippines, Tunisia, Denmark, France, Russian Federation, Ukraine, United States of America. From the ExCom Party-members, too, we have online: Pakistan, Sweden, United Kingdom. Secretary Robert Borje, Vice Chairperson and Executive Director of the Climate Change Commission, our colleagues from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Finance and Foreign Affairs.

To the representatives from the scientific and other development organizations, excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

I am delighted to welcome all of you to the 18th Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts.

We thank the UNFCCC Secretariat for holding the 18th meeting of the WIM Executive Committee here in the Philippines. I note that this is the first Executive Committee meeting of the Mechanism outside of Bonn, Germany. More importantly, this is the first meeting where the breakthrough decision adopted at the 27th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP) relating to funding arrangements responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change will be discussed. We note the COP27 decision regarding the establishment of the institutional arrangements of the Santiago Network for averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The Philippines is one of the countries that is strongly affected by climate change because of its unique location relative to the rest of the Southeast Asian countries. Earthquakes and typhoons cause, on average, USD 3.5 billion per year (over 1.0% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP) in direct losses to public and private assets. In the next 50 years, the Philippines is estimated to have a 40% chance of experiencing losses from natural disasters that will exceed USD 33 billion, and a 20% chance of losses that will exceed USD 53 billion (i.e., private losses are expected to account for 96% of annual total losses).

Data from the Office of Civil Defense show that annual damages in agriculture-US$4.07 billion, infrastructure-$2.07 billion, and private property-$1.05 billion are brought about by tropical cyclones from 2011 to 2021.

Going by the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the bigger typhoons are clustering in this part of the world. Southeast Asia will be strongly influenced by the Asian monsoons, bringing significant amounts of rainfall to parts of this region.

Based on the 2022 World Risk Index (WRI), the Philippines now tops the ranking with the highest exposure to disaster risks among 193 countries, a significant increase from the country’s 2021 WRI rank of eighth. In addition, the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index ranked the Philippines as the fourth among 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events from 2000 to 2019. This situation is despite our country contributing minimally to the total global greenhouse gas emissions.

This meeting is expected to pursue discussions on how to advance actions related to the Santiago Network to catalyze science-informed and demand-driven support systems for loss and damage for developing countries. This meeting is especially significant as it starts to discuss the design, arrangement and operationalization process of the Loss and Damage Fund. Details to pursue concrete progress in the generation of actionable data and the flow of financing primarily through the Operating Entities of the Convention and the Paris Agreement to the urgent funding needs of country Parties to avert and reduce potential impacts and recover quickly from climate events and disasters are necessary.

The meeting challenges each country’s commitment to endeavor for an entirely inclusive, participatory, and forward-looking results-based roadmap, transcending our respective national hats. Meaningful dialogue for an action-oriented and results-focused 5-Year Rolling Workplan – for the people and planet is aimed for this four-day interaction.

The Philippines formidably supports urgent actions that are needed to address both extreme and slow onset events. We zealously endorse targeted climate actions where poverty and vulnerability are substantially considered. We rally behind COP decisions to realize the loss and damage funding, and the operationalization of the Santiago Network, so that vulnerable economies will have opportunities to develop, amidst – and more aptly so – facing the challenge of the narrowing window of climate action due to limited financing.

Hosting the EXCOM meeting affirms the Philippines’ strong commitment and leadership to advance global action on loss and damage based on available science.

We welcome the continued discourse on how to deal with the impacts of climate hazards more effectively and efficiently. We urge all countries to move to preventive actions – actions that would avoid the increasing costs of climate events in terms of lives lost, illnesses and damage to properties and ecosystems.

Therefore, while we acknowledge the rolling plans, we press for focusing on critical outcomes of loss and damage discourse through COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, and beyond.

Positions and decisions to be concluded in this meeting will pose greater impact to the directions of loss and damage discourse through COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, and beyond.

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates, this meeting is an opportunity as well as a responsibility. This is an opportunity to foster collaborations and forge engagements among us. This is also a responsibility to fully take into account the plight of those with the least resources and those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Let this 18th Meeting of the WIM ExCom provide clear direction on actions to address issues of Loss and Damage. Let this meeting further move towards our vision through a spirit of global solidarity and with a renewed commitment to action.

The Philippines stands ready to support the WIM ExCom, in its causes, and the advocacy to lead and orchestrate work on loss and damage for the benefit of humankind. We commit to what we advocated since way before the Warsaw COP that established the Mechanism.

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, welcome to the 18th meeting of WIM Excom.

Thank you and Mabuhay!