(Photo courtesy of DENR)
MANILA – The Philippines called for faster climate action and direct access to adaptation funding for vulnerable communities as worsening extreme weather and a strong El Niño threaten food security, water supplies and livelihoods.
Speaking at the Baku High-Level Dialogue on Adaptation during the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye on Tuesday, Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna urged international partners to remove bureaucratic barriers that delay climate financing for countries facing severe environmental risks.
“As the world navigates a 1.5°C temperature overshoot coupled with the intense, cascading shocks of a Very Strong El Niño, the gap between climate risk and human survival is closing rapidly,” Cuna said.
“This is an existential, multi-sectoral emergency for a country like ours. It threatens food and water security, public health, critical infrastructure, and coastal livelihoods simultaneously,” he added.
Citing the United Nations Environment Programme’s Adaptation Gap Report, Cuna said developing countries face an annual climate adaptation financing shortfall of USD 284 billion to USD 339 billion.
He urged world leaders to assess the Baku to Belém Roadmap to USD 1.3 trillion and ensure that international climate commitments translate into actual investments benefiting communities.
“Our experience demonstrates that National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) cannot remain passive policy documents; they must become structural investment frameworks that govern national development decisions,” he said.
Under the Philippine National Adaptation Plan 2023–2050, the government is integrating climate risk assessments into infrastructure development, public spending and local government planning across eight priority sectors.
Cuna proposed three measures to accelerate climate adaptation, including connecting real-time monitoring of extreme heat and drought to pre-arranged emergency financial assistance for farmers before crop losses occur.
He also called for closer alignment of international development assistance with national priorities to prevent overlapping projects and strengthen local institutions.
The third proposal seeks to simplify international climate financing requirements so local governments and vulnerable communities can directly access adaptation funds.
“National plans only succeed if they protect lives on the frontlines. In the Philippines, climate impacts vary significantly across provinces, islands, and ecosystems,” Cuna emphasized.
The environment chief also pushed for grants and highly concessional financing instead of debt-heavy assistance that could further burden developing economies already struggling with climate-related disasters.
“Adaptation in vulnerable communities protects basic human dignity and public assets. Highly concessional, grant-based financing must form the core of adaptation flows, preventing climate shocks from worsening national debt burdens,” he said.
Cuna stressed that local governments and affected communities must have a greater role in designing climate adaptation projects, particularly by incorporating indigenous knowledge and local experience.
“Local governments and affected communities must not merely be recipients of aid; their indigenous and local knowledge must co-design local adaptation investments to ensure long-term sustainability,” he added.
The Philippines is among 93 countries that have submitted their National Adaptation Plans under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Baku High-Level Dialogue on Adaptation was established during COP29 as a ministerial platform to advance international cooperation on climate resilience.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources serves as the Philippines’ lead negotiator on adaptation under the UNFCCC.
