THE Department of Finance (DoF) said it declared its support for approving before next year the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG), to increase the access to financing of vulnerable countries.

A key part of the Paris Agreement, the NCQG seeks to create a new financing framework that will provide developing countries a “scaled up financing goal” to support their financing needs against climate change.

“We must realize the urgency and value of the NCQG as a framework that will provide much-needed financial support and mobilization to address the evolving needs and priorities of developing countries,” DoF Chief of Staff and Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati C. Dorotan-Tiuseco said during the 2024 High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on the NCQG on Climate Finance on Oct. 9 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“It is our responsibility to come together and create an NCQG text that genuinely reflects these needs.”

The NCQG calls for a “level of commitment that matches the scale of our ambition, while remaining sensitive to common but differentiated responsibilities, respective capabilities, and national circumstances,” Ms. Tiuseco said.

The high-level meeting was a preliminary event for the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP29) on Nov. 11-22, also in Baku.

Ms. Tiuseco also cited the need for simplified access to finance, including through multilateral development banks, multilateral funds, and bilateral channels.

She also noted the need to adopt a five-year time frame with a mandatory periodic assessment and review beginning in the third year to reflect country-driven needs assessment.

“We are firm in our stance that climate finance should be new and additional to any ODA that may be provided,” Ms. Tiuseco said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said it identified 408 sellers of illicit vape products, which are either unregistered or whose products do not carry the appropriate revenue stamps.

The BIR carried out nationwide raids on the vape sellers on Oct. 16, BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, Jr. said in a statement. It has yet to value the illegal vape products it found.

The BIR found illicit sellers in Manila, San Juan, Makati, Pasay, Las Piñas, and Quezon City.

Outside Metro Manila, illicit retailers and resellers were found in Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Benguet, Isabela, Laguna, La Union, Bulacan, Albay, Iloilo, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Surigao del Norte, Butuan, Agusan del Sur, South Cotabato, Davao, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental.

Beginning this month, the bureau will be conducting regular raids on illegal vape sellers.

“I have ordered weekly raids against illicit vape retailers, wherever they may be found,” Mr. Lumagui said.

Under Republic Act 11900 or the Vaporized Nicotine and Non-Nicotine Products Regulation Act, “The BIR shall order the immediate recall, ban or seizure from public sale or distribution of vaporized nicotine and non-nicotine products or novel tobacco products not registered with the BIR, including those sold online.” 

Beginning June 1, the BIR required all vape manufacturers and sellers to affix internal revenue stamps on their products to indicate tax compliance.

In the first half of the year, the BIR estimated foregone revenue of around P7.2 billion from seized vape and tobacco products. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz

ACCESSIBLE and accurate data on children will help drive investment that will allow the Philippines to reap the benefits of the demographic dividend, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Philippines said.

“We really need to invest now in the coming years in ensuring that children and young people have the education and skills they need to become economically active participants of this country,” Behzad Noubary, deputy representative for Programmes at UNICEF Philippines, said during the launch of the Situation Analysis of Children Virtual Platform on Monday. 

“So, I think this Situation Analysis is useful in pointing out the window of opportunity that we have on the demographic dividend,” he said.

According to the World Bank, a demographic dividend refers to “the accelerated economic growth that can result from a rapid decline in a country’s fertility and the subsequent change in the population age structure.”

Mr. Noubary also cited the need to look at data relating to children’s other rights, like the right to survive and thrive, the right to learn, and the right to be protected.

“If those rights are violated, then we are hindering the next generation from being economically active and productive members of society.”

“I think by diving into those separations, then we can see where the issues are to try to address them to make sure that the Philippines can make the best use of this demographic dividend window between now and 2050.”

The platform analyzes six main dimensions of and 25 subdimensions of children’s rights, including health and nutrition, education, protection, safe and sustainable environment, child poverty and social protection, and civil and participation rights.

It also features a comprehensive analysis and data visualization, including key progress, indicators, child rights, equity and risk, legislation, policy, bottlenecks, and relevant publications.

Through its platform, the UNICEF is also seeking to collect more data on children with disability or victims of violence.

“When the right data and evidence are in the right hands at the right time, decisions can be better informed, more equitable, and more likely to protect children’s rights,” UNICEF Philippines representative Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov said in a separate statement. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz