‘Paris accord, Phl development not at odds’

Sen. Loren Legarda said yesterday the country’s development can still be at full speed even as it keeps its commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Legarda said the government should consider a longterm transition to a low carbon economy but maintained that industrialized nations have greater responsibility to re- duce their greenhouse gas emissions.

During his first State of the Nation Address, President Duterte said while addressing global warming would be a priority, this should be based on “a fair and equitable equation. It must not stymie our industrialization.”

She agreed with Duterte, stressing the Philippines has long been calling for industrialized countries, which have the historical responsibility in causing global warming, to financially and technically assist developing countries in climate adaptation and mitigation efforts while reducing their own emissions.

She said there is no provision in the agreement that would prevent industrialization, and it also obliges developed nations to assist developing countries, through financial and technical support, in preparing for natural hazards, reducing disaster risks, and moving toward a low carbon economy.

“That is why, the proposed GHG emissions we submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is conditional,” she said.

This meant the success of the country’s goal to reduce its emissions to 70 percent by 2030 will depend on both its efforts and the assistance that will be provided to the Philippines by industrialized nations, she said.

Even with the absence of any international agreement, “it makes good economic and environmental sense to invest in clean energy and low carbon infrastructure,” she said.