Statement delivered on behalf of H.E. Benjamin E. Diokno, Secretary of Finance, Philippines
V20 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE IX
16 October 2022
SPEAKER: Thank you, Chair. On behalf of His Excellency Secretary Benjamin Diokno of the Philippines, we wish to provide the following statement: Distinguished colleagues and esteemed members of today’s Ministerial Meeting, good morning.Â
First, welcome the Republic of Ghana as the new Chair of the V20 led by the Honorable Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. We likewise express our appreciation to Bangladesh for excellently serving as the previous Chair of the V20 and furthermore with that, the current and past Chairs, including our V20 Secretariat for arranging today’s meeting.Â
Colleagues, as evidenced by the review and reports circulated by the Secretariat, today’s meeting is inarguably an important platform in the future in the face of our global goals of sustainable resilient and prosperous future. No words, no report can sufficiently emphasize how alarming the climate crisis is and it is without a doubt a reality for all of us here. Based on the 2022 World Risk Index, the Philippines now tops the ranking with the highest exposure to disaster risks among 192 countries, a significant increase from the country’s ranking of 8th in the past year.Â
In the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index, the Philippines rank as the fourth among ten countries most affected by extreme weather events from 2000 to 2019. This situation is despite our country contributing minimally to the total greenhouse gas emissions. Given the substantial losses and damages our country incurs each year from typhoons and other natural disasters, and notwithstanding the need for us to now recover from the economic and non-economic shocks brought about by the pandemic, adaptation is an urgent priority for the Philippines. Our escalating risk exposure to climate hazards has resulted in increased appropriations for disaster relief, emergency funds and increased insurance premium annually.Â
The increasing number and severity of typhoons has limited our economic development and social protection coverage due to the fiscal strain of mitigating and adapting to climate change. It is for these reasons that the Philippines remains steadfast in championing climate justice and in becoming a world leader in concrete climate action.Â
To deliver this, we recognize the crucial role of ample and accessible financing that must be mobilized towards actual and practical projects, programs and initiatives in developing and climate-vulnerable countries without having to forego opportunities to meet our own development agenda. To this end, esteemed friends, allow me to take this opportunity to call upon a solid collaboration among the climate-vulnerable countries to bolster support towards this course on the upcoming 27th Conference of Parties in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt.Â
We must push forward with concrete actions, having already established the science and fuel recent climate change. Let us make the upcoming climate discussions and negotiations productive. We out to hold everyone and ourselves accountable to what must be done in response to the needs of the most vulnerable in our societies and local communities. We must not lose our drive and passion. The mass of our collective action multiplied by the rate at which we are implementing actionable measures towards our climate goal is key in sustaining the momentum we have already started. Thank you.Â
[END]