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December 20-January 9, 2016 Vol. XXXIV No. 6
According to WWF-Philippines (Wildlife Fund for Nature) Gregg Yan, if the nations don’t deliver on the deal accepted during the recent COP21, vulnerable countries like the Philippines will have even stronger floods and storms. “The Philippines sits along the Pacific typhoon belt, absorbing around 20 storms yearly,” Yan wrote. “Though most typhoons are born in the Pacific Ocean, rising temperatures have heated up the West Philippine Sea enough that it also births storms. About PhP136.3 billion or five percent of the Philippine budget has already been allotted for climate change adaptation efforts – money better spent building schools and feeding hungry Pinoys.” Photo courtesy of WWF-Philippines.
COP21: Global climate deal formally adopted
By VIA BAROMA
Y
ou've done it," French President Francois Hollande told the delegates as they reached to the historic climate agreement, setting off a new round of applause. "You have succeeded where six years ago there was failure." World leaders, environmental and climate ministers and official representative from 195 countries and the European Union converged in Le Bourget, France on Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 for the climate negotiations of the 21st Conference of the Parties (also known as COP21) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In what supporters are calling a historic achievement, delegates from different countries voted to adopt an agreement on Dec. 12 that covers both developed and developing countries to combat climate change. The agreement sets the goal of limiting
the world's warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to "well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).” The Copenhagen talks in 2009 served as the backdrop of the climate negotiation in Paris. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who chaired the process in its final leg, assured that the final commitment would guarantee that no one will be left behind. "History is here. All the conditions are met. The decisive agreement for the planet is now," said President Hollande at the end of the Paris talks. “I believe this moment can be a turning point for the world,” US President Barrack Obama said, speaking from the White House, calling the agreement “the best chance we have
to save the one planet that we’ve got.” However, others were not so satisfied. Nur Masripatin, lead negotiator for Indonesia, said Jakarta was disappointed with the finance. “It’s very weak,” he said. “The deal is not fair... But we don’t have more time, we have to agree on what we have now.” Major key points The crunch issues were identified by the COP President, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as: financing (the amount paid by rich countries to poorer countries to respond to climate change); ambition (the speed and intensity of the shift to zero emissions in the long term); and differentiation (roles and responsibilities of developed and developing nations in addressing climate change). On the issue of differentiapage 2 tion, the agreement states that
Global NGO picks Cebu as one of five Asian environmental case studies By RICHARD RAMOS
C
ebu has been chosen as one of five Urban Green Growth cities in the Dynamic Asia Project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that aims to promote greening and competitiveness in a fast-growing economy in a second-tiered city. The study scope will include the analysis of key environmental and socio-economic trends of the metropolitan area; assessment of the policies of opportunity for green growth; a special chapter to discuss an urban green growth policy topic unique to the case study of the city; and the identification of enabling strategies for implementing urban green growth. The four other Urban Green Growth cities are Bangkok in Thailand, Iskandar Malaysia in Malaysia, Bandung in Indonepage 2 sia, and Hai Phong in Vietnam.