Regaining our voice in COP28
“The historic agreement is a legally binding international treaty forged by 196 world leaders at COP21 in Paris.
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“The historic agreement is a legally binding international treaty forged by 196 world leaders at COP21 in Paris.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. couldn't have found a more perfect person to represent him and the country at this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai than the current Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Ma. Antonio Yulo-Loyzaga.
Bringing together 198 countries (or Parties) that have ratified the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties or COP28, is hosted by the United Arab Emirates in the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, from 30 November to 12 December.
It is the largest climate summit in the world, and this year, COP28 will be concluding the first-ever global stocktake — a process by which countries and stakeholders will see what progress has been made collectively in terms of efforts to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The historic agreement is a legally binding international treaty forged by 196 world leaders at COP21 in Paris. Three nations — Libya, Iran, and Yemen — signed but did not ratify the Agreement.
Also, then-US President Donald Trump, in August 2017, withdrew the US from the Agreement. Still, in January 2020, President Joe Biden, in one of his very first executive acts, signed an order officially taking the US back into the Agreement.
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The Philippines, which historically had a strong, active presence in climatic negotiations in past UN Climate Change conferences, all but lost its voice during the six years that Rodrigo Duterte was president, according to lawyer and environment and climate expert Antonio La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government.
La Viña, the lead Philippine negotiator since the first COP session in Berlin, Germany, said, "We wasted a lot during the half dozen years of President Duterte, who was inconsistent, at best, with his climate policies."
Then Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. became President. When COP27 took place, the Marcos presidency was barely five months in office, with a new environment secretary and a Climate Change Commission with a new set of leaders.
"But the country, in COP27, was at least finally engaging with the world again after six years with virtually no Philippine voice to speak of in climate talks under the past administration," said La Viña.
With Marcos in place, he said, "The Philippines is finding that voice again, especially with Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, who is a known disaster resilience expert and climate change advocate at the helm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources."
La Viña is a director of various national and international organizations like the SEA Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment and co-chair of the Partnership Council of Partnerships in the Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia, as well as of the Manila Observatory, the scientific research institution founded by the Jesuits in 1865 which has been studying Philippine weather patterns since Spanish colonial times and whose scientists in more current times have contributed to international research on the environment, particularly on climate change.
La Viña is well acquainted with Loyzaga, who was Manila Observatory's executive director for nearly a decade and was a member of its International Advisory Board.
"She is the best choice for her position because of her experience and background," says La Viña, who assumed Loyzaga's position at the Manila Observatory when she was appointed head of the DENR by President Marcos.
"She combines a strong grounding in the natural and social sciences with an understanding of the business sector, poor communities in urban and rural areas, and sustainable development challenges."
To be sure, Loyzaga will have her hands full and will have to use her negotiating skills to the hilt in boosting the call to developed nations to fulfill their commitments, including the provision of climate financing to developing countries in terms of mitigating climate change, strengthening resilience and enhancing their abilities to adapt to climate impacts.
With the DENR secretary as the head of the delegation to COP28, we are optimistic that with her background, intellectual acuity and the full backing of the executive, the Philippines will regain its voice — clearly, distinctly — at this year's climate talks in Dubai.
