As the impacts of climate change intensify, vulnerable nations like the Philippines face increasing devastation. The archipelago has become the country most vulnerable to extreme weather changes brought on by climate change.
Lorena Ivy Bello Ogania lives in Samar, a province in the Philippines’ central Visayas region, which faces the Pacific Ocean.
In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened villages, and devastated Samar.
Living on the frontlines
“As a child, I loved playing in the rain. Now, it terrifies me,” Ogania told DW, as two days of relentless rains left her on edge.
She recalled how she was pregnant with her third child at the time and how she gave birth in a tent.
Recovery from the typhoon was painfully slow, with the province enduring months without electricity.
Tony Abletes lived in the Philippine capital, Manila, during Haiyan and still remembers fearing for his family in Samar.
“I was on the phone with my mother when the line went dead,” he recalled. “For five days, I didn’t know if she was alive.”
Both Ogania and Abletes live on the frontlines of the climate crisis, grappling with the trauma of surviving extreme weather.
Towards the end of 2024, the Philippines was pounded by six major storms in less than a month.
In November, Typhoon Usagi swamped rural villages in floods, knocked out power and displaced thousands. Just days earlier, Typhoon Toraji caused floods and forced more than 82,000 people to flee from their homes in northern provinces.
For Ogania, Abletes, and others living in coastal communities like Samar, the climate crisis has become almost a daily battle for survival.
Compensating climate losses
Nations vulnerable to natural disasters linked to global warming, including the Philippines, had long requested financial assistance to help deal with the loss and damage caused by devastating weather events.
COP27, the 2022 UN climate conference in Egypt, produced what was deemed a “historic agreement” to establish a fund for loss and damage. The Loss and Damage (L&D) Fund was officially launched a year later at COP28 in Dubai.
The fund compensates developing nations that contribute little to global warming but face its worst impacts, covering losses like destroyed livelihoods, infrastructure, and biodiversity.
By requiring wealthy, high-polluting nations to contribute, it addresses global warming inequities. In 2024, the Philippines was selected to host the L&D Fund Board to strategize fund disbursement and address urgent climate needs.
John Leo Algo, National Coordinator of Aksyon Klima, a civil society network for climate action, emphasized that the L&D Fund must function as a grant, not a financing agreement.
“Funds disbursed from the L&D Fund should not further burden countries that are already vulnerable to the climate crisis,” he told DW, calling such a scenario “unacceptable and unjust.”
Bridging the funding gap
Algo stressed that the fund should prioritize climate-affected communities, ensuring accessibility and availability during peak emergencies.
While hosting the L&D Fund Board doesn’t give the Philippines priority access, it highlights the country’s frontline experience with the climate crisis.
“Our role is to inform the board about emerging loss and damage trends worldwide, as we’ve experienced some of the highest risks and vulnerabilities in recent years,” Mark Dennis Joven, board member of the Fund Responding to Loss and Damage, told DW.
Joven, however, acknowledged the critical funding gap, with only $750 million (€725 million) in pledges secured globally — far short of the billions needed.
“We need to act fast so we don’t lose momentum,” he noted. “Operationalizing the fund and deploying funds quickly will encourage stronger commitments from donor countries.”
Joven emphasized the importance of mainstreaming L&D as the third pillar of climate financing, alongside mitigation and adaptation.
“Unlike project-linked finance, L&D allows for rapid deployment and direct budget support, critical to achieving climate justice,” he said.
Domestic measures
As international talks on the L&D Fund continue, advocates in the Philippines continue to push for the Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Bill, which aims to hold carbon polluters accountable by creating a fund for climate loss and damage victims and linking reparations to corporate responsibility.
The CLIMA Bill is similar to recent legislative actions in the United States.
Under a bill signed into law last week, the US state of New York will fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion over 25 years to cover climate damage costs, with funds directed at mitigating impacts like adapting infrastructure.
New York follows Vermont, which passed a similar law this summer, both modeled on superfund laws that require polluters to pay for toxic waste cleanup.
This push for accountability echoes global efforts, with advocates like Virginia Benosa-Llorin stressing the need for polluters to face the consequences.
“Every nation must ensure the biggest polluters pay. Without action, life-and-death climate impacts will become the new normal.” Virginia Benosa-Llorin, senior campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines, told DW.
Edited by: Keith Walker
