THE Philippine Department of Finance has welcomed the United States’ decision to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.

Reentering the international treaty on climate change was one of U.S. President Joe Biden’s first moves upon taking office in January.

“This is a welcome development that comes on the heels of President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated call on all nations to act on the climate crisis with urgency as one united community under the Paris Agreement,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said Friday, January 29.

“Now, more than ever, we need to ensure the mobilization of finance flows towards the adaptation needs of our most vulnerable communities. We need such action to be faster and on a greater scale. And we need it to bring about effective solutions on the ground across the globe,” he added.

Dominguez underscored the need for efforts focusing on the mobilization of the $100-billion annual funding target enshrined in the Paris Agreement for the adaptation and mitigation needs of developing countries.

To ensure climate justice, he said that “developed countries must deliver on their commitments under the Paris Agreement, including support for developing economies, leading to low-carbon and sustainable development.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that health, economic stability, and nature are intertwined. It has shown to us the domino effect that is triggered when one element in this interconnected system is overturned,” Dominguez said.

However, the finance official acknowledged that the response to the pandemic demonstrated the remarkable capacity of human society to put the emergency brake on the “business-as-usual” mindset.

“It showed that we can act as one and radically change our ways and our systems to fight the scourge of a deadly virus for the greater good of all,” Dominguez said.

He added, “The same unity, resolve and sense of urgency should be applied in combating the climate emergency and pursuing low-carbon and sustainable development.”