THE Duterte administration will moot the possibility of ratifying the Paris agreement on climate change, as “guided by the wisdom” of former President Fidel Ramos, a Palace official said Monday.
“We appreciate former President FVR’s (Ramos) advice. We will be guided by the wisdom of former President FVR,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a text message.
Andanar made the statement in response to the former president’s column, entitled “Climate Change – Attention: P. Digong, Cabinet and Congress” and published by newspaper Manila Bulletin over the weekend.
Ramos said Duterte is “unwittingly shooting himself in the mouth, and also all of us, 101.5 million Filipinos” when he said he would not honor the climate deal, which was crafted by some 195 countries, including the Philippines.
The Philippines, one of the top five countries most prone to disasters, has yet to ratify the Paris agreement on climate change.
The climate pact aims to hold the increase in the global temperature to “well below” two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Ramos believes that Duterte needs to approve the Paris agreement and certify it for Senate ratification “to promote our country’s interests and fight for climate change.”
“Ratifying the Paris agreement will allow the Philippines to participate in the global effort to address climate change and advance the interests of our country and our people, as one of the most vulnerable to climate change,” Ramos said.
“It will also enable us to secure more investments towards our climate goals and gain access to the financial, technological, and capacity-building support to be provided to parties of the agreement,” he added.
He then cited that any further delay would increase Filipinos’ vulnerability to super typhoons that are forecasted to come soon.
Duterte earlier said he would not acknowledge the climate pact because some of its provisions are “not clear” to him.
“This treaty in Paris, there is no treaty to honor. We have not signed the treaty; we just committed to draft a treaty for us so that we can be able to present our game plan and sign the treaty. That’s pending in Congress, because I said, that’s not clear,” Duterte said.
But Communications Secretary Martin Andanar later on said that the President would likely consider ratifying the agreement as long as it has no effect to the country’s economic situation. (Sunnex)
