Philippines Bats for Paris Agreement, Braces for Tough Negotiations During COP21

An official of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) has expressed optimism that this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France would yield different results than the 15th conference in Copenhagen, Denmark back in 2009.

“For me, I think, definitely there will be a Paris agreement. The French government will really push that there should be a Paris agreement,” Assistant Secretary Joyceline Goco, deputy executive director of the CCC, said during a press conference in Malacañang on Thursday.

Goco’s positivity stemmed from the way the French government organized this year’s 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), holding the leaders’ event on the very first day, a far cry from how it was during Denmark’s COP15.

She was however quick to add that obtaining a Paris agreement would not be that easy, as the finance aspect of the negotiation remains contentious among the parties concerned.

“My expectation is we will have very long nights and very long days. Baka wala ngang tulugan na ito because of several contact groups’ meetings, negotiations, and even up to the ministerial level,” Goco said.

Language was also an issue that has to be negotiated, she noted, as terminologies in the draft text required some ‘leveling off’ for it to be consistent with the varying interpretations of the parties involved.

“Currently, ‘yung draft negotiating text or draft agreement is full of brackets. Ibig sabihin, brackets and languages that will have to be negotiated during the Conference of Parties, so hindi magiging madali talaga ang negosasyon sa Paris,” Goco said.

“Pero may ginawa rin kasi ‘yung United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. They go through the negotiating text. Tiningnan nila ano ba rito ang may similar definition, alin dito ang mga pwedeng i-cluster na nagkakasama-sama, so that hopefully would facilitate the discussion,” she added.

President Benigno S. Aquino III will be among 147 world leaders expected to participate in the COP21, which will be held in Le Bourget in the suburb of Paris, beginning November 30 until December 11.

The annual conference aims for heads of state to come up with a legally binding and universal agreement to effectively address the challenges of climate change by dividing responsibilities between developed nations and the vulnerable ones.

The Philippines committed a 70 percent emission reduction by 2030, as part of its intended nationally determined contribution to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change with provisions coming from the developed countries on finance, capacity building, and technology transfer.

As world leaders are only given three minutes to speak during the forum, President Aquino will be highlighting “what the Philippines had done, also what do we want in the Paris agreement, as well as what we would like to do further”, Goco said.

The relevance of climate change on human rights, especially that of women and children, and indigenous peoples living in poor communities would be taken into consideration as well, according to the CCC official.

Goco placed emphasis on the need to protect women and children, as they are the ones left mostly at home whenever disasters strike.

Many countries share this position in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, she said. PND (hdc)