The Climate Change Commission takes part in the Asian Conference on Climate Change and Disaster Resilience, underscoring the need for strategic climate finance to support resilient investments across Asia.

MAKATI CITY – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) emphasized the need for strategic climate finance to strengthen resilience against intensifying climate impacts across the region during the Asian Conference on Climate Change and Disaster Resilience (ACCCDR) held at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

As climate risks continue to escalate across Asian countries, the CCC underscored that climate action must evolve into more innovative and transformative approaches that respond to emerging and complex threats.

Senator Loren Legarda highlighted the critical role of anticipatory finance, stressing that investments must be made early and strategically to reduce risks before they escalate.

“Anticipatory finance is not just about acting early. It is about making the right investments early so that risk is reduced at the point of design and not after failure.”
“It is about the speed of the peso moving from the national treasury to a local barangay before the storm makes landfall,” she added.

Echoing this, CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E. A. Borje emphasized that resilience begins with informed and forward-looking investments.

“We must stop building and rebuilding the same risks over and over again. We must build right at first sight. Instead of repeatedly building after being destroyed, we need to invest right from the start. With best available science and data-driven planning, we can plan and implement well, ensuring that every peso spent reduces and does not reinforce risk.” Borje said.

He further emphasized that climate finance must be anchored in science-based strategies. In particular, he pointed to the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) as a key policy framework that guides national and local governments in identifying vulnerabilities and directing investments where they are most needed.

The NAP, developed under the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., advances a climate-smart and climate-resilient development pathway for the country by enabling targeted, data-driven adaptation measures across sectors and communities.

From the local governance perspective, Assistant Secretary Lilian De Leon of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) emphasized the urgency of rethinking traditional disaster response approaches, noting the increasing pressure on frontline institutions.

“Our traditional approaches to disaster management, while foundational, are no longer sufficient to keep pace with these realities. We must therefore shift not only in strategy but in mindset.”

The conference served as a regional platform that brought together key stakeholders from government, academia, the private sector, and development institutions for a series of high-level panel discussions focused on climate finance, policy alignment, and resilience-building across Asia.

With the theme “From Risk to Readiness: Investing in Climate Futures in Asia,” the conference gathers key stakeholders from the legislative, national, and local governments, civil society organizations, as well as the private sector and academe to advance climate finance and drive resilient investment across the region.

The event was organized by the Asian Institute of Management, co-organized by the Climate Change Commission, and supported by key partners.

For more information on the CCC’s climate mainstreaming activities, visit www.climate.gov.ph and www.facebook.com/CCCPhl.