MANILA, Philippines – Following the conclusion of the first meeting of the Board of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FrLD) in the Philippines, the first phase of utilizing the fund is taking shape.

In a press briefing held at the Office for Civil Defense on Saturday, December 7, FrLD Executive Director Ibrahima Cheikh Diong said that there was now “clarity” in the first phase of intervention in Philippine disasters.

“They’ve decided the areas they want to focus for the first phase of our intervention… [is] early warning, especially the conditions where they need to respond, dealing with community-led initiatives, recovery and reconstructions. They also decided they want us to get more involved in preparing in terms of readiness,” he said.

Loss and damage refers to economic and non-economic climate change impacts. The Loss and Damage Fund was created during COP28 in November 2023 to help low-income developing countries offset damage from natural disasters caused by climate change.

The FrLD board selected the Philippines in July to be its host country.

Twenty-six contributors, mostly from developed countries, have pledged at least $749.25 million to the fund, according to a report from the World Bank released December 1.

Ensuring access

Civil Defense Administrator and Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said that the particular mechanisms to access the fund have yet to be developed, and what the country has so far are just commitments from other countries to help with grants or concessional loans.

Diong said that the board meeting held from December 2 to 5 at the Philippine International Convention Center was crucial for the board to clarify its priorities — one of which was access to the fund.

“Those modalities have to be nimble, accessible, easier, so that countries don’t have to spend lengthy processes to have access to the resources. Because unfortunately, loss and damage require rapid response, and that’s how you can save lives and livelihoods,” Diong said.

“So the next step, as I say, [is] to get those modalities and then begin to engage with countries so then they can obviously be able to access our resources,” he added.

Nepomuceno said that while the Philippine government has disaster funds, the Loss and Damage Fund will still be helpful as augmented support especially because of the numerous tropical cyclones that batter the country every year.

He said that the country’s preference were if the funds were disbursed as grants, which means the government doesn’t have to pay these back, in contrast to loans.

“Kaya’t alam din natin kahit magkaroon tayo ng pondo, kahit sapat pa ‘yan, mas maigi pa rin may karagdagang pondo lalo na kung libre at grant upang magamit naman natin ‘yung pondo ng Pilipinas para sa ibang bagay,” said Nepomuceno.

(We know that even if we have government funds, even if we say that this is enough, it will still be better to have more funds especially if these are free or grants, so that we can use the Philippines’ funds for other things.)

Diong added that another priority was to ensure that the countries’ pledges are converted into actual resources.

The World Bank said that as of December 1, the bank has received just 9% or $68.95 million of the pledges. — Rappler.com