January 24, 2020 - In order to raise awareness on the Green Climate Fund (GCF)—the world’s largest climate fund meant to serve developing countries—the “Green Climate Fund Philippines” website was developed and can now be accessed via https://www.gov.ph/web/green-climate-fund/home. 

Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda said that the website aims to inform the public on the GCF processes and policies, as well as provide timely advisories and updates relative to our country’s activities to access the Fund. 

“The country continues to experience extreme weather events like flooding, landslides, and drought, which we are also seeing worldwide such as in the catastrophic wildfires. The stakes have never been higher. Through this website, we hope to reach more people, communities, and organizations who may need to access the Fund,” said Legarda, who is also a member of the GCF Board. 

Legarda noted that the international community established the GCF to deliver equal amounts of funding to mitigation and adaptation, adding that the Fund is meant to serve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and even further to 1.5 degrees. To date, the GCF has approved a total of 124 projects amounting to USD5.6 billion, with an estimated total of 348 million people with increased resilience and 1.6 billion tons of CO2 equivalent avoided. 

At the last GCF Board Meeting in Songdo, South Korea in November last year, the Philippines successfully secured a grant of USD10 million for a project led by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and Land Bank of the Philippines, to establish a multi-hazard impact-based early warning system (MHIBEWS) in the country. 

“We invite the public to visit the GCF-Philippines website to be informed of important announcements and events as we strive to secure more climate finance for our vulnerable communities,” Legarda concluded.