Mami Mizutori, head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, told Marcos in a meeting last Friday at Malacañang that the international body is ready to assist the country in climate financing as it cited the efforts of the President to mitigate the effects of climate change in the country.
“So, and then there are many, many other requirements that we have to fulfill. And sometimes it seems that it is very difficult to actually qualify for some of these,” he added. He said the country has just gone through a difficult time because of a “very rapid” increase in the price of rice because all Asian countries are bracing for El Niño in the first quarter of 2024.
“We are always expected to be one of the most vulnerable when it comes to the effects of climate change and we certainly are very concerned. As I’ve said, right now, we are already feeling it because of the frequency and the intensity of these disasters that fall into the country,” the President told the UN official.