COP23: Phl vows to fulfill Paris accord

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine delegation to the 23rd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) in Bonn, Germany gave assurance that the country’s commitments to reduce global warming will meet the 1.5 degree Celsius goal under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Sen. Loren Legarda said yesterday. 

Legarda, chair of the Senate committees on foreign relations and on climate change, heads the Philippine delegation  to the COP 23 meeting at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

In her keynote address at the “Innovative Climate Finance Strategies and Instruments by and for Climate Vulnerable Countries,” organized by the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), the senator said green innovative facilities could spur economic growth for the Philippines.  

“According to the latest analysis of Climate Action Tracker released last week, only Morocco and Gambia have NDCs that are compatible with 1.5?C. And four out of the five countries which have 2?C-compatible climate action plans are also members of the CVF: Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and the Philippines,” Legarda said. 

She said the Philippines’ NDC will soon be rated 1.5?C-compatible as well as other CVF. 

“We continue to pursue a development path consistent with 1.5 degrees not only because we know it is the best way to protect our people and climate,” she said. 

The CVF is an international alliance of countries highly vulnerable to global warming, which also created the Vulnerable 20 (V20), consisting of finance ministers from member states of the CVF, which primarily aims “to act collectively and decisively to promote the mobilization of public and private climate finance from wide-ranging sources.” 

She said the Philippines was proud to take part in the founding of the V20 during its presidency of the CVF, which was handed over to Ethiopia in August last year.