As global temperatures threaten to cross critical warming thresholds, the Philippines is urging the international community to abandon short-term, project-based climate financing in favor of predictable, multi-year funding to build permanent, nationally owned systems of resilience.
Speaking at the Solutions Dialogue on Financing Adaptation in the Era of Global Overshoot at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Atty. Analiza Rebuelta-Teh, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary for Finance, Information Systems, Climate Change and Administration, highlighted the urgent need to sustain early warning capabilities so that alerts lead directly to protective action.
For climate-vulnerable island nations like the Philippines, “we are already confronting increasingly intense and compounding hazards that threaten lives, livelihoods, food and water security, ecosystems, and economic stability”, Undersecretary Rebuelta-Teh said.
The call comes as financial pressure mounts on developing countries. Global adaptation costs for developing nations are projected to reach $310 billion to $365 billion annually by 2035—a burden amplified by widespread debt distress and high capital costs.
In the Philippines, delaying action carries a severe economic burden: inaction across eight priority sectors outlined in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) is estimated to cost the country ₱645 billion every year.
“Adaptation cannot remain reactive,” the Undersecretary emphasized. “We need new, additional, predictable, and scaled-up public finance to enable developing countries to respond to growing climate risks at the speed and scale required.”
To build sustainable financing for early warning infrastructure, Rebuelta-Teh outlined three priority areas:
- Treating early warning systems as permanent public infrastructure: Transitioning away from short-term project grants toward multi-year, predictable financing streams.
- Funding last-mile action: Securing pre-arranged, trigger-based funding alongside local risk data, warning distribution systems, and community preparedness programs to ensure alerts trigger immediate local protection.
- Financing the “unfunded middle” and securing domestic ownership: Providing resources for continuous operations, system maintenance, data collection, staff training, and technical upgrades, establishing a clear path toward full domestic budget integration.
Reinforcing its commitment to global disaster risk management, the Philippines recently formalized its entry as the 71st member of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), becoming only the second Southeast Asian nation to join the international organization.
“For the Philippines, our goal is to move from isolated projects to permanent, nationally owned systems of resilience,” Undersecretary Rebuelta-Teh said. “With predictable international support aligned with domestic planning and budgeting, we can ensure that early warnings are not only issued, but translated into timely action that protects lives, livelihoods, and development gains.”
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