The Philippines, through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), hosted the Training-Workshop on Climate Finance Mobilization and Access for the ASEAN, as supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat on March 20-23, 2023 at Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati.

Participated by representatives of the ASEAN Member States (AMS),  the training workshop aimed to build the capacity and skills of the country representatives by providing them with information and tools in accessing and mobilizing climate finance to support their priority climate adaptation and mitigation needs.

The training workshop is a component of the Needs-based Finance (NBF) Project, which was established in response to the request by Country Parties to the UNFCCC to explore ways and means to assist developing country Parties in assessing their needs and priorities in a country-driven manner, including their technological needs, to translate climate finance needs into action.

“The needs-based framework should be designed with a regional perspective to engage regional and country actors to climate action,” Atty. Jonas R. Leones, DENR Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, and International Affairs, noted during his welcome remarks.

The training workshop provided the platform to validate and refine the Climate Finance Access and Mobilization Strategy developed by the AMS that aims to provide the framework for AMS to improve access and benefit from climate finance mechanisms both internationally, regionally, and domestically. This strategy will provide the possible areas of collaboration among AMS.

During the 27th Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC in November 2022, DENR Secretary and Climate Change Commission Chairperson-Designate Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga  emphasized the urgent need for ample and accessible climate financing to source funding for needed mitigation and adaptation measures, especially for vulnerable countries like the Philippines.

The training workshop was participated by experts of the NBF Project, operating entities of the Financial Mechanisms of the UNFCCC, United Nations agencies and bilateral, regional, and other multilateral channels, direct access entities, and representatives from the 10 AMS namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar,  Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and representatives from various agencies of the Philippine national government. The Secretariats of the UNFCCC and ASEAN facilitated the training-workshop. ###