SURIGAO CITY — Where do we want to discuss climate change in 2012: in Qatar or in South Korea?
The Philippines is supposed to endorse a nation as host of the 2012 Global Climate Change Summit, but the confusion over which one to endorse—Qatar or South Korea—may be causing embarrassment to Filipino diplomats.
This is what Climate Change Commissioner Naderev "Yeb" Saño said at the launching of the “Depensa: Climate Adaptation Financing and Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives" in Mindanao on Thursday in this southern Philippine city. Saño said that the “diplomatic embarrassment" arose when Climate Change Vice Chairperson Heherson Alvarez endorsed South Korea as this year's host of the annually-held summit, when the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had already endorsed Qatar months earlier.
The 2012 summit on climate change, formally called the 18th Conference of Parties (COP-18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is a meeting nof the treaty's signatories, which include the Philippines.
At the Surigao meeting, Saño clarified that the climate change summit was just like the Olympics, where the selection of a future host country is subject to a bidding process, with interested countries submitting their bids to a panel. “If officials of a country will not share the same endorsement and instead endorse two different countries at same time, it is an embarrassment because it means we failed to act as one," Saño said when asked about his view of the conflicting endorsements.
The Republic of Korea and Qatar both expressed interest in hosting COP-18. The Philippines’ Climate Change Commission (CCC), chaired by President Benigno Aquino III, was inclined to support South Korea but the DFA had already committed the country’s support for Qatar. The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty that was drafted at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), more popularly known as the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. The treaty aimed to bring down greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to a level that would prevent its endangering the earth’s climate. Since 1992, nations that have signed the treaty have been meeting annually to discuss the progress of the goals. COP-16 will be held in Cancun, Mexico from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10 this year, while COP-18 will be held in 2012. In a letter dated Nov. 12, 2010, a copy of which was obtained by GMANews.TV, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio reminded Alvarez that as early as May 19, the country had declared its support for Qatar’s bid to host the event. Reciprocity for Qatar Basilio told Alvarez that the Philippines is supporting Qatar, since the two countries shared similar positions on climate change. However, in an earlier letter to South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Hye-Min, Alvarez claimed that the Philippines was supporting South Korea’s bid. GMANews.TV was also able to obtain a copy of the Alvarez’s letter dated July 12. But the DFA hinted that Alvarez’s move was a diplomatic faux pas. Basilio said that the political decision to support Qatar is a form of reciprocity as the country has “consistently supported the Philippines’ bid for observer status at the Organization of Islamic Countries, even at the 37th Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting on May 18-20 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan." The OIC is a powerful bloc of Islamic countries, many of which are rich oil states. It has played an important role in the Mindanao peace process since the 1970s. Commitment to the environment On the other hand, Alvarez told the Korean Ambassador in his letter that “the Climate Change Commission supports this initiative because (of Korea’s) proximity to the Philippines, the familiarity of your government (with) the UNFCCC process, and the capacity of your country to host this event." Alvarez, who heads the Philippine delegation to this year’s 16th Conference of Parties (COP-16), said that the final decision of which country the Philippines will support as COP-18 host has yet to be decided. “Climate change is a daunting survival issue. For its environment dimension, we expressed our choice of Korea," Alvarez said.
“But the matter is yet to be worked out and decided in Cancun," he added.
“This is an issue of engaging and overarching national interest," he noted. “The determination of where the national interest lies in this issue will always be the prerogative of the Chief Executive, and we will always abide by that determination," he said. “In early July, the Korean Embassy in Manila made representation before the Commission on their interest to host COP-18 and sought our support. "At that time, we did not have any information on the stand of the DFA, nor knowledge of the intention of Qatar to host COP-18. We were uninformed of the DFA’s prior commitment to Qatar," Alvarez said. Alvarez also said he was surprised to receive the letter from the DFA informing him of the endorsement of Qatar. “As the primary agency concerned with climate change issues, we expressed support for South Korea based solely on its laudable climate initiatives like the globally-prominent GREEN GROWTH PLAN," he said. South Korea was also one of the first countries to heed the Philippines’ call to cut carbon dioxide under our “deep and early cut" by committing to reduce 30 percent of its greenhouse gas emission by 2020, the CCC commissioner said. According to Alvarez, the Philippines filed this initiative at the UNFCCC as early as COP-14 in Poznan, Poland in December 2008. “Which country would best host a global climate change meeting of world leaders — one that promises to reduce its carbon emissions or an oil-producing one that churns out fossil fuels that cause global warming? Where lies our national interest?" Alvarez concluded in his press statement. Alvarez was secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and a member of the Lower House representing Isabela’s 4th district of Isabela from 1998 to 2001. He was appointed by former President Arroyo as Secretary of the Climate Change Commission acting as the Vice Chair to the President and Executive Director of the Climate Change Office on Dec. 1, 2009. Only a day before the Surigao meeting, a senior palace official vowed to request President Aquino's intervention in what was described as a long-simmering leadership crisis at the CCC. (See: Abad: Palace to tackle leadership crisis in climate body) The Surigao forum on climate financing was attended by representatives of local and national government agencies, including Surigao del Norte Gov. Sol Matugas, and Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III as guest of honor.—With Danilova Molintas/JV
