Time for solidarity: UN supports typhoon relief efforts, calls for more resources

The Philippines is no stranger to disasters – but this year, typhoon season is already seeing the worst damage in many years.

Just in the past few weeks, the combined impact of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (Trami) and Typhoon Leon (Kong-Rey) displaced over 617,000 people due to flooding and landslides. At least 160 were killed and hundreds injured. Twenty-one people are still missing. That was at the turn of the month. Two more storms have since made landfall, with more predicted to come in quick succession.

For 16 years straight, the country has topped the World Risk Index, a tool used to assess and estimate the disaster risk faced by 193 nations around the world. This unfortunate distinction of being the most disaster-prone country in the world was first bestowed on the Philippines in 2009. Just months later, almost as if proving a point, Tropical Storm Ondoy (internationally known as Typhoon Ketsana) devastated the capital region, causing record-breaking flooding across Metro Manila.

Fifteen years later, severe flooding remains a perennial problem, not just in the capital, but in many parts of the Philippines. While the country has made strides to enhance its resilience and develop and adapt its infrastructure, the progress is outpaced by ever more severe impact of climate change.

Over 10 million people were affected by these recent typhoons, but because they followed similar paths, many of the same communities were repeatedly hit. As soon as they attempted to recover from the shock, the next tropical storm was already upon them. And so, during this particularly terrible storm season, national response capacities are already significantly stretched.

Humanitarian assistance, with support from the UN

To support the government on emergency response measures, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in the Philippines, composed of civil society organizations, the private sector and the United Nations, was mobilized during the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine. This team is working in sync with national authorities, local government units and the private sector to provide emergency assistance to typhoon-hit areas.

Early warnings of severe weather led to activation of anticipatory action strategies already in place to reduce the impact of the typhoon on lives and livelihoods, for example, through support for farmers in securing their tools and livestock. However, with severity and continuous arrival of storms, more resources are required to respond to urgent needs on the ground.

The HCT has consolidated typhoon assessment reports and prepared a Humanitarian Needs and Priorities (HNP) Plan covering the period from November 2024 to January 2025. The HNP identifies what help is needed by affected communities and which communities need the most assistance. It is expected to fill critical gaps in aid for the locales heavily impacted by the series of typhoons.

Raising $32.9 million

Our focus is on the seven most affected provinces in the Cagayan, Southern Tagalog and Bicol Regions (Regions 2, 4A and 5). Out of the 892,000 people in need, the HNP is targeting to help 210,000 of the most vulnerable people, which will require some $32.9 million.

The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will soon release $3.5 million in humanitarian funds for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to sustain their efforts.

But CERF support alone is insufficient to cover all urgent needs of the most severely hit communities. Further support of resource partners will be critical to rapidly mobilize assistance for government institutions at national, regional and local levels. This includes assistance for rescue and relief operations, as well as post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation.

As I make this call for funding support for disaster response in the wake of these typhoons, I recall making a similar appeal in April – not for storm-hit communities, but for areas facing severe drought.

This is the reality we must now confront: extreme weather events are increasing in number and intensity due to climate change. For a country like the Philippines, worsening climate conditions will be devastating. Disasters have already cost $23 billion in damage since 1990; by 2030, the climate change-related disasters are estimated to cost the Philippines over seven percent of its GDP.

The national government is already taking steps towards addressing and mitigating the impacts of climate change. Among the country’s pledges during the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are the reduction of emissions by 75 percent by 2030 and increasing the share of renewable energy to 50 percent by 2040. In December 2023, the Philippines became a member of the World Economic Forum’s Blue Carbon Action Partnership, which aims to protect and rehabilitate coastal ecosystems.

Most notably, the Philippines will host the UN’s Board of the Loss and Damage Fund, formally signing the Host Country Agreement just this week during COP29 in Azerbaijan. The Fund is a financing mechanism to help developing countries recover from the impacts of climate change, including disasters. As of September 2024, $702 million has been pledged to the Fund.

As host of the Loss and Damage Fund’s operations, the Philippines can use its extensive experience in managing and responding to disasters to ensure its efficient and equitable use. Speaking at the signing ceremony for the Host Country Agreement, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga made an astute observation: “The Philippines is experiencing a historically unprecedented series of extreme weather events… [the country] may be a test case for the Fund in responding to this unique cumulative loss of lives and damage to critical infrastructure.”

I’ve heard the saying, “the Filipino spirit is waterproof.” And I’ve seen that firsthand – the Filipino people’s strength and sense of bayanihan or community in times of adversity is commendable.

However, such resilience does not need to be tested year in, year out. The Filipino spirit may be waterproof, but for a safe, inclusive and sustainable future, it is crucial for us to work together to make sure that the impact of storms – and other climate events – do not get even worse.

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Gustavo Gonzalez is the United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Philippines.