ANTALYA, Türkiye — The Philippines has called for reforms to global climate financing mechanisms, warning that developing nations remain unable to secure sufficient funding to confront worsening climate threats despite international commitments to accelerate climate action.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna raised the concern during the opening of Italy’s Pavilion at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), where he urged governments and financial institutions to turn climate pledges into accessible funding and concrete action.
“Developing countries continue to face enormous hurdles in securing the trillions in climate finance required for mitigation and adaptation,” Cuna said. “Raising global ambition is meaningless without creating the financial architecture to deliver it.”
Speaking before government officials, climate leaders, and financial institution representatives, Cuna identified three major challenges confronting global climate efforts: the growing risk of breaching the 1.5°C warming threshold, instability in energy markets, and the persistent shortage of climate financing for vulnerable countries.
He warned that rising global temperatures pose particularly serious consequences for archipelagic nations such as the Philippines, where extreme weather events threaten coastal communities, agriculture, biodiversity, and livelihoods.
“For archipelagic nations like the Philippines and our neighbors across Southeast Asia, an overshoot is not a statistical anomaly,” Cuna pointed out, citing storm surges, biodiversity loss, and threats to food security and human lives.
The environment chief also pushed for greater transparency in climate data, improved access to loss and damage funding, and stronger private-sector participation in renewable energy and climate-resilient infrastructure projects.
While welcoming the operationalization of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, Cuna stressed that financial assistance must reach vulnerable countries and affected communities promptly and predictably.
He also urged governments to establish regulatory policies that would attract private investment in clean energy, sustainable supply chains, and infrastructure capable of withstanding climate-related disasters.
The DENR chief further emphasized the need for stronger regional cooperation among Southeast Asian countries to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy sources and strengthen climate resilience through evidence-based policies.
Hosted by Italy’s Ministry of Environment in partnership with sustainability platform illuminem, the pavilion opening brought together government and private-sector representatives to discuss financing solutions and sustainable development initiatives.
Cuna said the success of COP31 should ultimately be measured by whether international commitments translate into meaningful protection for communities facing the consequences of climate change.
“The true measure of COP31 will not be judged by the statements we deliver, but by the tangible protection and resilience we secure for our people and our planet,” he said.