MANILA — The Philippines secured a seat in the board of the "Loss and Damage" fund mobilized by the 28th Climate Change Conference (COP28) to help vulnerable countries cope with the increasingly costly impacts of climate disasters, the environment department said Thursday.

Environment Secretary Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said the Philippines would serve as a full member of the board in 2024 and 2026, and share a term with Pakistan as an alternate member in 2025.

“So, out of the three years, the Philippines will be sitting two years as full members and one year as an alternate member,” Loyzaga said in a press briefing.

The fund reached around $792 million dollars in pledges during the talks hosted by the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, according to the COP28 presidency.

That still falls short of the $100 billion a year that developing nations have said is needed to cover losses from natural disasters and rising seas.

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Loyzaga said the government hoped to host the Fund in the Philippines, which would allow the country to be at the forefront in representing “climate vulnerable countries that are in the developing world.”

“The main gain for us in terms of being the host to the board and being on the board itself is to represent the vulnerable countries in the world that are developing and need to have special consideration given to these countries in order for us to, in fact, drive what should be the appropriate financing available for each of us,” Loyzaga said.

“Each of the countries have unique needs and therefore, climate vulnerable developing countries, especially island and archipelagic countries like our own, need to be able to articulate our needs and have an influenced climate policy in this way.”

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr welcomed the development, which he said would give the Philippines a “voice in the management of all funding that is available around the world to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.”

“The next step that we are hoping to achieve is to host the Damage and Loss Fund here in the Philippines, because after all we are very much in the mix when it comes on the climate change effects” the President said.

“This is a good development that we’ll keep working to make sure that the Philippines has a very strong voice when it comes to all the issues of climate change of which we are very severely affected,” he said in a video message.

The Philippines hopes the Loss and Damage Fund will be operational as soon as appropriate structure and organization for its management is established.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse