October 16, 2024 — Public-private partnership (PPP) projects are crucial to strengthening disaster resilience in the Philippines, particularly in developing more climate-resilient infrastructure.
National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan made this statement as he joined President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) in Pasay City on October 15.
“Limited fiscal space, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitates developing our governance framework for public-private partnerships to finance climate-resilient infrastructure,” Balisacan said.
He added that while most of the country’s PPP projects are in the physical and digital connectivity sectors, “major water supply, flood control, and irrigation infrastructure projects are also in the pipeline to meet the economy’s growing needs while ensuring climate-change resiliency.”
NEDA Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo O. Abad Santos and Assistant Secretary Roderick M. Planta were also among the Philippines’ representatives at the conference.
In his keynote address on resilient recovery, Abad Santos emphasized that “pre-disaster planning and preparedness are key to faster and less costly recovery.” On the other hand, Planta shared during the plenary session on investing in disaster-resilient infrastructure that the “Philippine government is committed to increasing the country’s resiliency spending over time.” He added that the country is working on establishing a national standard for infrastructure resilience.
In his speech, President Marcos highlighted the need to increase investments in disaster risk reduction and develop financing mechanisms to help address disaster risks.
“Sustained and predictable data and financing would help address disaster risks better. This entails ensuring that developing countries, particularly the least-developed countries, landlocked countries, and small island developing states, are provided greater access to these resources to advance their policies and build disaster resilience,” the President stated.
He also announced that the Philippines had been selected to host the fourth Loss and Damage Fund Board meeting in December 2024.
The Board is a decision-making body mandated to lead the management of funds to assist climate-vulnerable developing countries and to respond to economic and non-economic loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change.
With the theme “Surge to 2030: Enhancing Ambition in Asia-Pacific to Accelerate Disaster Risk Reduction,” the 2024 APMCDRR brought together governments, intergovernmental, international, national, and civil society organizations, the private sector, science, academia, and stakeholder groups. The objective is to accelerate the region’s progress in reducing disaster risk and meet the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
The Sendai Framework serves as the international community’s guide to disaster risk reduction. It advocates substantially reducing disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods, and health and the economic, physical, social, cultural, and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities, and countries.
The Framework resulted from stakeholder consultations initiated in March 2012 and inter-governmental negotiations held from July 2014 to March 2015, supported by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
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