COP28 PH youth delegate: Make climate financing a reality

The country’s youth delegate to the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) urged member countries to "make climate financing a reality before it is too late," as she highlighted the Philippines' vulnerability to calamities caused by changing weather.

"We urge the member countries to make climate financing exclusively for loss and damage a reality now," said 17-year-old youth delegate Javea Maria Estavillo during her address at the climate gathering in Dubai.

Estavillo is an advocate against climate change, had interned as a climate change and loss analyst at the Manila Observatory, and was also a delegate to Bonn, Germany for the UN Climate Change Conference last June.

During her speech, Estavillo said that between 2011 and 2021, the Philippine Development Plan pegged the country’s loss and damage at P673.30 billion from tropical cyclones alone.

She warned that such losses would eat up to 7.6% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 and 13% by 2040.

Estavillo pointed out that the Philippines’ limited resources would not be able to provide any prompt relief for affected Filipinos.

Although there were previous agreements in which developed nations increased the financing needed by developing nations for climate change adaptation, Estavillo said the financial commitments needed to make climate financing operational have been slow in coming.

As governments acknowledge the important role of the youth in climate change, Estavillo said youth organizations should embrace the support given by public and private sectors for them to operate with more resources.

There was also a need to recognize the importance of innovation, technology, and data analysis in fighting climate change and in making communities more adaptable to changing weather.

"Everyone should remember that climate change is a crisis akin to war – destructive, all-consuming, and unjust," she emphasized. — DVM/KG, GMA Integrated News