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Peña: President Duterte to sign Paris Agreement

Published on 14 November 2016 Philippines

I’M GLAD to know that President Duterte will finally sign the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. I admire him for respecting the decision of his cabinet, majority of whom voted to uphold the treaty adopted by the Philippines. According to President Duterte himself, only one or two (including him), opposed it. The agreement by the way is already in effect.

According to the UNFCC website, the number of ratifications needed for the Paris Agreement to be in effect was already achieved on October 05, 2016. At least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Depositary. Thirty days after on November 04, 2016, the treaty officially entered into force.

The first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA1) started last November 07 and will end on November 18 in Marrakech, Morocco in conjunction with COP 22 and CMP 12.

As to the status of the treaty, the following are the countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement to date:

Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Dominica, Estonia, European Union, Fiji, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea. Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Jordan, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia and Morocco.

Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, New Zealand, Niger, Niue, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, State of Palestine, Swaziland, Sweden, Thailand, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

Among the world’s top ten emitters of greenhouse gases, only Russia and Japan have not ratified the agreement. The top two emitters, China and the United States, both ratified the agreement on September 03, 2016. The Philippines is not on the list obviously.

President Duterte refused at first to sign the Paris accord, saying the Philippines is a small contributor to global warming. According to a publication from the Philippine Senate, the greenhouse gas emission of the Philippines from 1990 to 2010 is only 0.30% of the world’s total. Among the Southeast Asian countries, we are only sixth in the list. Indonesia as the top emitter in the region with 4.28% followed by Myanmar (surprisingly) at 1.26%, Thailand at 0.72%, Malaysia 0.66%, and Vietnam at 0.46%. Brunei has the lowest emission in the region with only 0.04%.

 

Source: Sun Star Pampanga | 10 November 2016