Philippines sets financing focus for climate change meet

Judy T. Gulane in Business World (Philippines): The Philippines will push for climate change adaptation financing at the Cancun talks that begin today, emphasizing the need for measures to deal with the phenomenon’s adverse effects. Philippine delegation head Mary Ann Lucille Y. Sering, vice-chairman of the Climate Change Commission (CCC), said the country, as part of the G77 and China bloc, would also continue to call for a greenhouse gas emissions deal even if binding commitments are not likely.

"Going to Cancun, [the Philippines is] hoping to see progress on the financing structure, on how fast this financing that was committed to last time can be delivered," she said last Friday.

…The Philippines, for instance, already the victim of strong storms as a result of climate change, faces fiercer storms, sea-level rise and varying rainfall patterns that will impact food security, human health and human settlements if global warming were not mitigated.

…"With the Philippines’ geophysical and socioeconomic characteristics, more emphasis is given on adaptation to risks associated with current climate variability and extremes," the framework reads.

Antonio G.M. La Viña, an international environment lawyer based at the Ateneo de Manila University and a member of the Philippine delegation to Cancun, likewise said "the Philippines will take a strong position on mitigation and adaptation." "The stakes are high for us, because without an international agreement on mitigation and adaptation, the Philippines is left on its own to fight the serious challenge of climate change," he told BusinessWorld last Thursday….