As 9th board meeting of the FRLD is underway in Manila, CSOs raise the alarm to fill the fund 

As the 9th board meeting of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) is underway in Manila, representatives from civil society organizations, indigenous peoples groups and climate justice advocates raise the alarm.

The numbers don't lie. The FRLD currently has some $250M (approx. P15.3 billion) as it is considering 176 proposals amounting to a total cost of $2.8B (approx. P171.9 billion).

That is more than 11 times than the current budget, Aksyon Klima Pilipinas national Coordinator John Leo Algo said.

"The proposals are at a maximum of $20M each and in the developing countries alone, we need $400B annually," said Brandon Wu, director of policy and campaigns at ActionAid USA, at Tuesday's virtual press briefing organized by the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD).

"The fund has received less than $500M, which is what the US has spent daily to sustain the Iran war at its peak," he added.

Of the 176 proposals that's been received, 81 came from Africa, 49 from Asia-Pacific, 42 from Latin America/Caribbean, and 4 from Eastern Europe.

The Philippines was able to submit one proposal.

But Algo expressed concern that "only four proposals worth $77.4M (approx. P4.8 billion) will be presented to the board for approval" during the meeting.

These four proposals were were among the first 10 proposals submitted during the last board meeting in April, he added.

"This could unjustly leave hundreds of proposals - including that of the Philippines - out of proper consideration for urgent access to much-needed resources. With limited capacities and resources to make funding proposals of this magnitude, not all countries have the opportunity to make these submissions well in advance of the deadline," he continued.

At the virtual briefing, the only Filipino speaker, Tetet Lauron, climate activist serving as the Women and Gender Constituency representative at the Santiago Network Advisory Board, pointed to Super Typhoon Inday (international name Bavi), which is currently in the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

"Storms have become so strong, they don't need to hit land to wreck havoc," she said. "And recovery sometimes takes 10-15 years."

"Communities are confronting climate change on top of their everyday concerns. They need to support for the impacts of crisis that they contributed very little to," she said.

According to Lauron, multilateral funds have been bypassing these communities, and called on the board to do better and act differently.

She is arguing for two things: Direct budget support "so national and subnational become accredited to receive access to the fund," and that communities be able to apply and receive support allowing "local knowledge to be harnessed."

"The inclusion of the marginalized voices shift the discussion and all for local ownership," she said, pointing to the fact "there is enough money going around."

Harjeet Singh, convener of the Fill the Fund campaign and strategic advisor to the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, summarized the ask most eloquently: Scale speed and access. "Communities are still not getting the financial support they need," he said.

Apart from Super Typhoon Inday that Lauron earlier pointed to, Algo also makes his case with the incoming Super El Niño. "It is time for the Fund to step up to its mandate, speed up its operations, and scale up its resources for the most vulnerable countries and communities," he said.

The 9th board meeting of FRLD takes place in Manila from July 8-10.

The Philippines was elected to host the Board in July 2024. Four months later, it formally signed the agreement to do so at the 29th United Nations Conference of Parties, or COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. — GMA News