GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

228
Project Phase 1 includes the design of costeffective
adaptation measures in agriculture
and natural resource management. While the
benefits of pooling risks and of insurance
against climate-related hazards in support of
adaptation efforts are increasingly appreciated
internationally, this remains a rather
underdeveloped area in the Philippines largely
because of scarce private-sector interest. The
government-owned Philippine Crop Insurance
Corporation (PCIC) offers weather-related
crop-damage insurance, but small farmers
have limited access to the fund since they
cannot afford the premiums. The World Bank
and ProVention Consortium-funded Agriculture
Climate Risk Assessment Project will explore
the possibility of piloting a weather-based
insurance system.
There are major problems with the
government’s policy response and its financing
of mitigation and adaptation.
Secondly, the government has opted to
establish a carbon trading system instead
of imposing a national carbon tax and other
forms of pollution taxes which could have both
reduced GHG emissions and raised public
funds for adaptation. Research shows that a
national carbon tax in the Philippines could not
only reduce poverty and increase welfare but
would also raise revenues for adaptation that
could enhance gender equality, especially if
adaptation financing was used to support rural
development.
Lastly, imposing user fees for environmental
services could have a regressive distributional
impact and prevent rural women from accessing
such services.
Source:
Perlata, A. (2008). Gender and Climate Change Finance - A
Case study from the Philippines. New York, USA: WEDO.
Firstly, its reliance on more debt instruments
to finance climate change challenges will
add to its already high debt burden. There is
no recognition that subsidizing large-scale
renewable energy projects such as mega
hydro dams could have adverse gender and
social implications. In making this choice, the
government has ignored other GHG abatement
projects such as community forest management
and agro-forestry schemes, with potentially
strong poverty alleviation outcomes. It has also
neglected to focus on adaptation measures that
could build climate resilience into agriculture
and fisheries, and hence ensure people’s
access to water and other necessities.