The Climate Change Commission (CCC) and Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda are very pleased to announce that the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board, presently convened for its 24th Meeting held in Songdo, Korea this week, has just approved our country’s first GCF project on the establishment of a multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning system (MH-IBF-EWS). The GCF Board, which includes Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda as Alternate Member, approved the proposal for a USD10-million grant that aims to strengthen and ensure the delivery of actionable and timely early warning to communities and “last mile” end users at risk of impending natural hazards. “The Board’s decision to approve this project comes at a critical time as we commemorate this November the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines six years ago. The experiences and lessons we gained from Yolanda and other disasters necessitated the need for a project like this that can translate risk and hazard information into understandable and actionable early warnings, so our citizens remain safe and aware,” Legarda said. The project aims to translate hazard forecasts into warnings that can convey location- and sector-specific impacts, providing tailored climate risk information directly to the LGUs and communities on the ground. It will implement four outputs: i) Generate science-based multi-hazard weather and risk information; ii) Establish an MH-IBF-EWS supported by a knowledge and decision support system; iii) Improve national and local capacities in implementing a people-centered MH-IBF-EWS and forecast-based early actions (FbA); and iv) Mainstream climate risk information and MH-IBF-EWS in development policy and planning, investment programming and resilience planning at national and local levels and institutionalizing a people-centered MH-IBF-EWS in the Philippines. The GCF will channel the grant to Land Bank of the Philippines acting as the direct access entity of the project. The country’s national meteorological agency PAGASA will be the project’s lead executing entity, together with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), World Food Programme (WFP), and the local governments of Tuguegarao City; Legazpi City; Palo, Leyte; and New Bataan, Davao de Oro, which shall also be the project’s target sites. The DILG will be responsible for advocacy, outreach, and public awareness on MH-IBF-EWS, capacity building of local government units, and the updating of disaster preparedness and response protocols using impact-based early warning system. The DENR-MGB will be responsible for the generation of landslide hazard maps and establishing threshold values for landslide. The OCD, as the implementing arm of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), will be expected to facilitate inter-agency coordination, mobilize resources for disaster preparedness and response, and manage information at the national and regional levels. The WFP will lead in activities related to FbA and shock-responsive social protection, including the development of index-based triggers and SOPs aligned with impact-based forecasting and warning system. The target LGUs will be responsible for leading all activities in the project sites, such as building the exposure database with population and socio-economic variable; housing and building data and gathering data in the field; identifying forecast-based actions and financing mechanisms; adopting and implementing early action protocols (EAPs); identifying alternative resilient livelihood options; and integrating MH-IBF-EWS and FbA in their respective local resilience plans. A Project Board consisting of the CCC, Land Bank, DOST-PAGASA, OCD, DENR-MGB, and DILG will be set up at the national level to provide project oversight and implementation strategies. Climate Change Commissioner Rachel S. Herrera, who is also the National Focal Point to the GCF, said that accessing the GCF has been a priority of the CCC since day one, emphasizing that our strong advocacy for climate action and climate justice must be matched by an efficient system to access climate finance. “We are overjoyed with the approval of our very first GCF country proposal, which is the product of convergence among agencies, organizations, and stakeholders who contributed to the development and submission of this project. This is just the beginning. The CCC, as the National Designated Authority to the GCF, will remain determined to access more climate finance that can enable genuine and lasting resilience for our vulnerable communities,” Herrera said. “The Philippine Senate in the past years conducted workshops on climate finance and GCF processes when I chaired the Committee on Climate Change. This all bore fruit now. We will continue to build capacity in government agencies, LGUs, and private sector partners to build resilience for a whole of nation approach,” Legarda added.
TACLOBAN, LEYTE November 12, 2019 – The Climate Change Commission (CCC), in partnership with the different sectors in the province of Leyte, pledged to strengthen the adaptive capacity and climate resiliency of the local government units of Leyte through the signing of the Pledge of Commitment to establish the Leyte Climate Change Consortium (LCCC). Among the signatories were CCC Assistant Secretary Romell Antonio Cuenca, together with An Waray Representative Florencio Noel, University of the Philippines Visayas, Tacloban City Officer-in-Charge and Dean Eulito Casas Jr.; Former Leyte Vice Governor Nestor Villasin; and Department of the Interior and Local Government Regional Director Artemio Caneja. Representatives from the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Agriculture, Palompon Institute of Technology, and Leyte Normal University also signed the pledge. Though not present, the Commission on Higher Education, Eastern Visayas State University, Waste 360, YLEAF, and the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners – Eastern Visayas Chapter also expressed their support to the LCCC. This will be the second consortium following the establishment of the same in Northern Panay last September. The endeavor promotes climate knowledge-sharing, support and advocate mainstreaming of climate-smart and resilient practices from different local government units with the help of the academe which can be references in crafting quality Local Climate Change Action Plans (LCCAPs). The event is also in commemoration of the 6th anniversary of the super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) which struck the Eastern Visayas in November 8, 2013. “Climate change knows no borders, no reigns and no man, and so it presents an existential challenge to all of us. … Let us focus our time and energy in the formulation of LCCAPs… and take action as soon as possible,” said Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla in his written speech read by former Vice Governor Villasin. The signatories committed to “build safe, resilient and sustainable future, raise the task of protecting lives homes, livelihood and development gains from the effects of climate change” and “solely support the establishment and operationalization of the Leyte Climate Change Consortium aimed at decreasing the vulnerability and enhancing the adaptive capacity of the communities of [the] province of Leyte.” “As we continue to remember those who perished and what was taken from us, we should now position our region to a level of mindfulness and preparedness. Climate change is here to stay and we can’t just hope and pray that Yolanda won’t happen again. And when it does, God forbid, we are now at least prepared and coordinated, benefiting from the technical know-how that is locally available. To mind, this is the best commemoration we can make,” said Rep. Noel.
On November 11, a day before the 24th Meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board Meeting officially starts, the Informal Board Working Session was convened for GCF Board and Alternate Members and their advisers to discuss comments on the agenda items for Board discussion. It was facilitated by the co-Chairs from the developing and developed country constituencies. Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda participated in the session as an alternate member of the GCF Board, with support from Climate Change Commission. The country project team behind the first GCF proposal from the Philippines meanwhile met with the GCF’s Division on Mitigation and Adaptation (DMA) and participated in the Workshop Session with the Independent Technical Advisory Panel (ITAP), before taking questions at the Technical Session with GCF Board Advisers. Composed of Land Bank of the Philippines Assistant Vice President Prudencio Calado III; Land Bank Program Officer Pauline Angelica Roxas; PAGASA Assistant Weather Services Chief Thelma Cinco; and CCC Senior Technical Advisers Josie Ramos and Dr. Marqueza Reyes, the team seeks a grant of USD10 million on the establishment of multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning systems and services (MH-IBF-EWS). Land Bank serves as the accredited entity, with PAGASA as the lead executing entity, together with other agencies and target local government units, for the MH-IBF-EWS project that aims to strengthen and ensure the delivery of actionable and timely early warning to communities at risk of impending natural hazards, down to the last mile. Mr. Joseph Intsiful and Mr. Nazeem Wasti of the Secretariat Division on Mitigation and Adaptation helped the country project team prepare for the process of the Board Meeting deliberation and approval. At the ITAP session, Land Bank of the Philippines and other accredited entities were informed on the technical evaluation of funding proposals, particularly on forest and land use change and sustainability for adaptation projects. At the Technical Session that serves as a precursor to the GCF Board Meeting, Land Bank was given the opportunity to address queries and concerns by GCF Board advisers on the MH-IBF-EWS project. The country project team was also able to meet Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda, who sits as an alternate member in the GCF Board representing the Asia Pacific Group. The consideration of the MH-IBF-EWS project and other funding proposals is on the second day, November 13, of the GCF Board Meeting agenda.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES 11 November 2019 – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) today announced that the country’s very first funding proposal to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) will be up for consideration at the 24th Meeting of the GCF Board, to be held in Songdo, South Korea on November 12 to 14, 2019. The funding proposal seeks a grant of USD10 million on the establishment of multi-hazard impact-based forecasting and early warning systems and services (MH-IBF-EWS). The project aims to strengthen and ensure the delivery of actionable and timely early warning to communities at risk of impending natural hazards, down to the last mile. The country’s national meteorological agency PAGASA shall serve as the project’s lead executing entity, together with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), DENR-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), World Food Programme (WFP), and the local governments of Tuguegarao City; Legazpi City; Palo, Leyte; and New Bataan, Davao de Oro, which shall also be the project’s target sites. The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) serves as the accredited entity through which the GCF shall channel the funds if approved by the Board. Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, who serves as an alternate member in the GCF Board, is confirmed to attend the meeting. The PAGASA Modernization Act which she principally authored in 2015 provided the foundation for the co-financing component from the Philippine government to ensure sustainability of the MH-IBF-EWS project. “We are making significant progress in our pursuit to access climate finance with our very first country proposal to the GCF. I hope that my fellow GCF Board Members will also see the potential of this project to transform our traditional early warning systems and services towards a more proactive and inclusive climate risk management tool for saving lives and resources,” Legarda said. “Lessons from Typhoon Haiyan, which, six years ago, battered central Philippines and my very own province of Antique, remind us that actionable information and warnings are key to saving lives and protecting property,” Legarda added. In June, the CCC, as the National Designated Authority (NDA) to the GCF, issued a no-objection letter for the MH-IBF-EWS project, after a review process which included consultations with the GCF-Technical Working Group (comprised mainly of the Department of Finance, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Office of the Executive Secretary, Office of the Cabinet Secretary, and Philippine Commission on Women). “One crucial consideration that the GCF looks into when reviewing project proposals is the country ownership aspect. As the NDA, the CCC has put in place a whole-of-nation approach, so we can be sure that agencies and stakeholders are onboard on these projects,” said Commissioner Rachel Herrera, who is also the National Focal Point to the GCF. “The MH-IBF-EWS project is just the start, and we are hopeful that we can quickly move several other projects in the pipeline for submission to the GCF. We will continue to work with other government agencies and project proponents to bring in climate finance that will build genuine resilience for our people and environment,” Herrera concluded. About the GCF and the Board The Green Climate Fund is the largest climate finance mechanism in the world, specifically catered to developing countries. It was created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to support low emission (mitigation) and climate resilience (adaptation) projects and programs. The GCF serves the Paris Agreement in supporting the goal of limiting global warming below two degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts to limit it further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The GCF Board governs the Fund and is composed of 24 members with equal representation from developed and developing countries. The Board receives guidance from the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC. As of October 2019, the GCF has approved 111 projects amounting to USD5.2 billion (with co-financing, amounting to USD18.7 billion). An estimated 310 million people will benefit with increased resilience and 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent will be avoided through these projects.
October 15 is the deadline for nominations of individuals and organizations to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Green Champions Awards. The Green Champions GCF Awards will recognize outstanding individuals and organizations that are driving climate transformation, as well as promote initiatives that stand as examples of environmental, social, and business-led commitments to combat climate change. This includes activities that limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions and those that encourage adaptation to climate change impacts. The categories are as follows: 1. Climate Youth Champion - Individual, aged 25 years below, who is making a difference in responding to the climate challenge. 2. Climate Gender Champion - Individual who has a track record in emphasizing the inclusiveness of women in climate action. 3. Climate Community Champion - Individual or organization that is central to a community’s engagement with climate action. 4. Transformational Country Champion - Individual or organization in a developing country that has made notable progress in pursuing national interaction with the GCF. 5. Climate Entrepreneur - Individual or organization making successes in bringing the private sector into climate finance. 6. Climate Lifetime Achievement Champion - Individual who is a recognized trailblazer in promoting climate action. If you want to nominate outstanding Filipino individuals and/or organizations in any of the categories, please do so through the GCF Green Champions Awards website via: https://awards.greenchampions.online/ Let us support our deserving fellow Filipinos and organizations by making their efforts to drive climate ambition and action known by the global community!
