Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda (Rep. Salceda's office)

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda hailed the Marcos administration for its successful bid to have the Philippines host the Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Board under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Salceda, chairman of the House Ways and Ways committee, was elected first Asian co-chair by 180 nation-states to the UN Green Climate Fund, a predecessor of the LDF.

“Hosting the LDF will help the Philippines gain a fair access to financial resources for funding climate change adaptation and mitigation measures,” he said.

Salceda said that it will also "[give] us a platform to highlight the true scale of the problem and to call for proportionate action from the leading economies of the world — those who benefited from the emissions the most".

“As a former delegate to the UNFCCC, alongside many Filipino experts, we fought for the principle of loss and damage and why it needs compensation," said the Bicolano.

“Loss and damage are adverse impacts of climate change despite adaptation and mitigation measures. They are, in other words, the unavoidable losses due to the fault primarily of industrialized countries,” he said.

“And because it is both inevitable and attributable, the principle is that we should hold large industrialized countries accountable for loss and damage to climate-vulnerable communities,” Salceda said.

As first Asian co-chair of the UNFCCC Green Climate Fund, Salceda is recognized for leading the board to completing the eight prerequisites for operationalization during the Board meeting in Bali, Indonesia and for raising $13 billion for the Green Climate Fund in the Initial Resource Mobilization in Oslo, Norway.

He was recognized for these accomplishments during the Conference of Parties (COP) 20 in Lima, Peru in 2014.

Salceda urged the Marcos administration to take an aggressive stance on loss and damage during climate talks in 2022, in the aftermath of typhoon Paeng. The Philippines won a seat in the LDF Board, in addition to hosting the body.

An initial $700 million was pledged by donor countries to the LDF. Experts warn, however, that this is merely 0.2 percent of the total loss and damage that developing countries suffer from climate change every year.

“The Philippines has moral ascendancy in climate talks. We are the most climate-vulnerable country in the world. And we are also a global leader in DRR and climate change adaptation,” Salceda said.