THE Philippines formalized the hosting of the Loss and Damage Fund Board after signing the Host Country Agreement (HCA) on November 12, the second day of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku , in Azerbaijan.

The HCA establishes the relationship between the Loss and Damage Response Fund (LDRF) Board and the Philippine Government, including the granting of privileges and immunities to the Board.

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga led the signing of the FRLD on Tuesday evening with co-chairs Richard Sherman and Jean-Christophe Donnellier.

Yulo-Loyzaga highlighted the crucial role of the Fund in combating the worst impacts of climate change on communities in their reconstruction and recovery phases. “The Philippines could provide a test case for the Fund in its response to this unique cumulative loss of life and damage to critical infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, roads, and water and electricity systems,” she declared.

The FrLD was established by the Conference of the Parties at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2023. It became operational at COP28 in Dubai, UAE United Arabs, in 2024.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the lead Philippine agency responsible for hosting the fund. Following the signing of the HCA, the DENR said the Fund would formally operate to address the loss and damage needs of particularly vulnerable countries.

The Philippines initially expressed interest in hosting the FrLD Board at COP28 and managed to secure a seat on the Board earlier this year. It was then chosen as the host country at the second meeting in July in Songdo, South Korea.

On August 28, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act (RA) 12019, or the Loss and Damage Fund Board Act, which grants legal personality and capacity to the FrLD board.

“For the Philippines, living with risk, loss and damage is part of our history as an archipelago. We therefore have a deep and personal interest in ensuring the success of the Loss and Damage Response Fund,” said Yulo-Loyzaga: Adding that President Marcos sees the importance of FrLD, especially after the four successive tropical cyclones that hit the country in the last three weeks.

We hope that the situation will serve as a benchmark in terms of the country’s ability to recover, given adequate and timely access to resources, Yulo-Loyzaga stressed.

The fourth meeting of the FrLD board of directors will be held from December 2 to 5 in Manila.

COP29, for its part, will take place from November 11 to 22, the date on which the parties are expected to agree on the new quantified collective objective. These are new climate finance targets intended to replace the $100 billion per year target set under the Paris Agreement and set to expire in 2025. Recent estimates indicate that total global climate finance needs exceed 1 trillion dollars per year.