Oxfam calls for support for Philippines

OXFAM PILIPINAS has called on the global community for better support for countries like the Philippines which is extremely climate-vulnerable while not being prepared enough for the disasters to come.

The call came following the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” (Nalgae), which affected 2.2 million people and displaced half a million of them. Over 100 people were reported dead while more than 60 are still missing. The numbers, including damage to property and agriculture, are expected to go up as the reports come in.

 

It also coincided with the release of the Oxfam report “Climate Finance in Asia: Assessing the state of climate finance in one of the world’s most climate vulnerable regions.”

 

“’The Philippines, like many other Asian countries, ranks really high in terms of climate vulnerability and really low when it comes to climate readiness, according to our ‘Climate Finance in Asia’ report. Even though we are working on measures to improve our preparedness, every time we are hit by extreme weather events such as ‘Paeng,’ we have to deal with further loss, making it even harder to be ready for the climate crisis,” said Oxfam Pilipinas Country Director Lot Felizco.

 

Felizco said the Philippines and other climate-vulnerable countries in Asia continue to grapple with the problem of having to face the effects of a climate emergency that more developed countries have caused and benefited from. “This is why we are calling for better and sufficient climate finance that would allow countries like the Philippines to adequately face the effects of climate change,” Felizco said.

 

According to the report, the Philippines ranked 10th among the 18 Asian countries (excluding Singapore, Korea and Japan) in terms of vulnerability and preparedness to climate change.

 

The ranking, based on the Notre-Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index, also shows the Philippines ranking 113 globally out of 182 countries for 2020. This means it is highly vulnerable but is not as prepared as countries like Singapore or Japan, which rank 6th and 19th respectively.

 

“There is much to be done so countries like the Philippines can catch up with others that are fortunately not as highly vulnerable and at the same time better prepared,” said Felizco. “Climate finance and support from players who contribute the most to climate change are important in correcting injustice and saving the lives of millions of people, especially those in the poorest communities and in marginalized groups.”

 

The Climate Finance in Asia report showed that while Asian countries have seen an annual 28% rise in climate finance to $20.5 billion in 2020, this increase hides problems that are being mirrored across the world and are likely to cause tensions at the UN climate summit in Egypt later this month.

 

“Asia is being devastated by climate-driven disaster after disaster, taking lives and costing billions. Pakistan underwater. China and India are baked by 50-degree heat waves. Bangladeshis leaving farmland made unusable by saltwater. The Philippines was hit by worsening typhoons,” said Sunil Acharya, Oxfam’s Asia Regional Policy and Campaigns Coordinator.

 

In December 2021, when Super Typhoon Odette (Rai) ravaged the Philippines, it killed more than 400 people and resulted in $336 million in losses to agricultural goods, $75 million worth of fishing boats and gear, and $565 million in damage to homes, roads and utility lines.

 

“This is becoming an irreversible humanitarian crisis across Asia where half the population already live below the poverty-line. People are nearing the limits of what they can do to cope. They need more help, not debt, and more say in how it happens,” Acharya said. 

 

Debt

 

The Philippines is 5th among Asian countries surveyed in the Oxfam report that received the highest amount of climate finance. However, the $7.8 billion received from 2013 to 2020 is mostly from debt instruments. Of the annual average of $972 million worth of climate finance received by the Philippines, more than half or $528 million are from concessional debt instruments while $364 million are from non-concessional debt instruments.

 

“We are forced to look rather cynically at the climate financing of the multinational institutions because the majority of their money is winding up as Asian foreign debt. It’s difficult for Asian countries to maintain health and education budgets when they’re taking on more debt to pay for climate damage that they did little to cause,” Acharya said. 

 

Asia’s biggest bilateral climate finance contributors from 2013-20 are Japan ($28.2 billion), Germany ($11.2 billion), France ($6 billion) and the US ($1.1 billion). 70% of Japan’s contribution can be considered as “grant equivalent”, against only 41% for Germany and 44% for France.

 

Asia’s biggest multilateral climate finance providers are the World Bank Group which committed over $30 billion from 2013-20, and the Asian Development Bank ($17.6 billion). However, when factoring in loans, the World Bank Group had a “grant equivalent” spend of just $7.6 billion while the ADB was just $2.1 billion. 

 

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has a “grant equivalent” of zero – meaning its entire $4.1 billion funding came close to market-rate loans, of which more than 80% went into big transport and energy projects.

 

“Asia’s climate finance providers and governments need to reassess climate finance in a way that is genuinely pro-poor, locally-led, and targeted to help women and girls who are shouldering the bulk of climate risk and harm,” Acharya said. "Climate finance must be transparent, easily trackable and spent in ways in which people who are most affected are able to genuinely participate in decision making processes.”

 

The report also explores the voluntary South-South climate finance flows into Asia, noting that China spent $84 billion into 13 of the 18 Asian countries studied in the same time period. The biggest recipients were Pakistan ($31.4 billion), Indonesia ($10.8 billion), Bangladesh ($10.4 billion) and Philippines ($9.9 billion). The report estimates that more than $35 billion of this went to “climate relevant” mitigation objectives. (Mindanao Examiner)