House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda has called on world leaders attending the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to help secure the lives and livelihoods of Filipinos affected by the global climate crisis.
"It’s COP season again. COP26—if it delivers—can help secure the lives and livelihoods of Filipinos today and in the future as we continue to deal with the consequences of global warming. Many climate vulnerable countries like ours are anxiously waiting for its results," the Antique lone district representative said.
Almost 200 nations and territories are in Glasgow, Scotland for a 12-day global climate negotiation from October 31 to November 12. The COP was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last COP was held in 2019, in Madrid, Spain.
According to Legarda this year’s summit is considered a critical meeting given the need for urgent action to prevent the average global temperature from going beyond 1.5˚C and avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change. The year 2021 shed adds has been described by scientists as humanity’s “last best chance” to reduce emissions enough to keep the planet below 1.5˚C.
"This is a make-or-break point for all nations to get their act together and agree on how to effectively implement the Paris Agreement, which is meant to limit global warming and ramp up our ability to adapt to worsening climate risks. Our hope is that COP26 will bring major progress on those fronts," added the former three-term senator.
"Today, we confront climate change along with COVID-19, and our resilience to both is intertwined with the growth of the world's economy. If the world becomes an inhospitable place for living things, the very concept of economy will disintegrate and we will be left in a pit where it will be a struggle to survive," Legarda said.
"Let us, therefore, work together as a community, as a nation, and as a planet—towards a better ending; towards a greener normal; towards a safer, sustainable, and resilient future for us and the next generation," she stressed. (Melvin Sarangay)