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Manila, Philippines | July 17, 2025—Lawmakers from the Philippines and Climate Vulnerable Forum and V20 Finance Ministers (CVF-V20) nations were called to take center stage in the fight against climate change, as the CVF Global Parliamentary Group (GPG) demonstrated its role as the legislative engine driving climate investments into climate-vulnerable countries.
The GPG was established in 2021 with the aim of uniting lawmakers from CVF-V20 countries to work together in advancing green industrial policies and driving long-term institutional reforms that attract and sustain climate investments.
“We underscore the importance of strengthening parliamentary engagement across CVF-V20 Member States through, for instance, this modality, the Global Parliamentary Group. This platform can play a critical role, not only as a space for technical dialogue but as a mechanism for coordinated legislative advocacy in key multilateral forums,” Atty. Johaira Wahab-Manantan, the Acting Director of the Office of United Nations and International Organizations (UNIO) of the Department of Foreign Affairs, explained.
To succeed in the long term while delivering early benefits, climate investments need to establish robust regulatory regimes and fiscal frameworks that embed the climate prosperity agenda into core development strategies via legislation. Such investments are crucial in the implementation of the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework, and the Global Biodiversity 30×30 Target.
Shared realities of the world’s most vulnerable
The GPG’s efforts rise from the shared truth and realities of climate injustice, daily endured by vulnerable nations.
In the Philippines, where 70% of its population confronts the haunting devastation of climate-induced tragedies, climate change is no stranger. It has been a long-worn familiar face etched into every typhoons, flood, and droughts.
The World Bank reported that 565 disasters have historically cost the country US$23 billion damages and 70,000 lives since 1990. Senator Loren Legarda, during the high-level meeting, shared that the projected cost of productivity loss from extreme heat alone could reach PhP466 billion annually by 2030.
“Yet, even this staggering figure fails to capture the true potential loss of our invaluable cultural heritage. We must prioritize mitigating climate risks to our cultural sites, our time-honored traditions, and the wealth of knowledge passed down through generations,” Senator Legarda added.
Ambassador Elizabeth Thompson, representing the Barbados CVF-V20 Presidency, recognized the shared struggle of V20 nations in confronting the climate crisis, highlighting lost livelihoods, destroyed homes, displaced communities, failed crops, eroded coastlines, devastated coral reefs, the rise of vector-borne diseases, and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. She shared how hurricanes have swept over the communities and coastlines of Barbados that hurled even the national economy. Furthermore, Hurricane Maria wiped out 225% of the Commonwealth of Dominica’s Gross Domestic Product in five hours.
“But you have your own stories in this country and in this region. These are not just the stories that make the news. These are the stories of the lives of our people, the destruction of their dreams, and the challenges that we face as parliamentarians and as a people. Your responsibility, therefore, is to give vision and voice to the solutions to the climate crisis,” Ambassador Thompson noted.
Supporting investment strategies with legislation
The high-level meeting last July 14 was designed on the shared vision of proofing infrastructures and the economy from climate shocks.
The Philippine Climate Prosperity Investment Memorandum, currently being developed by the Department of Finance and supported by the CVF-V20 Secretariat, is envisioned as an economy-wide investment roadmap designed to transform risks into bankable opportunities—scaling up renewable energy, supporting green industries, protecting biodiversity, and building resilience down to the local level. With the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) and other innovative financing mechanisms, the country is determined to translate plans into tangible community impact.
The GPG leverages the power and influence of lawmakers to institutionalize CPP across CVF-V20 nations. Legislators are key to confronting the climate crisis through policies that create green jobs, foster security, and deliver resilience across nations. With their mandate to represent the interests of the people, parliaments are vital in elevating the lived realities and opportunities in policy-making platforms. Every seat in the parliament comes with the solemn duty to be the bridge between people and government, and representatives of nations determined to advance global governance reform.
“You [legislators] are the most important actors in elevating the issue of climate across all sectors in the legislative agenda, from energy to health to food, transport, and education,” Hon. Mohamed Nasheed, Secretary-General of the CVF-V20 Secretariat and former President of the Republic of Maldives, said. “Your leadership in marrying climate ambition with economic strategy through your Climate Prosperity Plan is inspiring our entire coalition.”
Senator Loren Legarda, author of the country’s landmark Climate Change Act and champion of the PSF, reiterated the Philippine commitment to forge pathways for shared prosperity:
“Let the Philippine experience embolden our Global Parliamentary Group. Together, we can embed climate prosperity in every law, every budget, every community initiative we undertake—ensuring that cultural heritage and local knowledge remain at the heart of our climate agenda,” the senator said.
The event concluded with a strong call to action for Philippine lawmakers to fully implement the Climate Prosperity Investment Memorandum, safeguarding cultural treasures, empowering resilient communities, and building a sustainable future for all Filipinos.
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The CVF-V20 represents 74 member-countries from small island developing states (SIDS), least developed countries (LDCs), low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), and fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS). Working together, the CVF-V20 aims to achieve climate justice through the realization of Climate Prosperity Plans, which contain ambitious economic and financial resilience strategies designed to attract investment and resources that advance the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 30×30 Global Biodiversity, and help keep the average global temperatures to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C safety threshold.
For media enquiries, please contact media@cvfv20.org.
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