STATEMENT OF DEPUTY SPEAKER LOREN LEGARDA Head of the Philippine Delegation to COP25 on the outcome of the recently-concluded climate conference in Madrid, Spain

I welcome the conclusion of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP25) held last week in Madrid. I welcome its close for several reasons, not all of which may be self-evident, and so I wish to spell them out:
Confronted by the most serious crisis humanity has ever faced, leaders of the most advanced nations that also happen to bear the greatest responsibility in creating and exacerbating today’s climate crisis, have chosen instead to lean back and watch as the world burns.
I […]

Message of Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda during the Launch of Cátedra Extraordinaria De Filipinas at the Universidad de Complutense de Madrid 13 December 2019

Our culture is our soul and while many do not realize it, we need to release our cultural energy, which serves as our motivation to work and engage in meaningful and profound social interaction.

Art, history, social sciences are forms that encompass cultural diplomacy, which I deem as the Philippines’ fourth pillar of foreign policy, a  key to opening up the country to political and economic initiatives with other nations. 

In consonance with this belief, I was firm […]

Speech of Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda Panel Discussion on ASEAN Priorities for COP26 December 12, 2019 | Madrid, Spain

For the Philippines, COP26 will be a defining moment in our history. We view it as the start of the full implementation of the Paris Agreement, as we strive to finalize the Paris rulebook in this year’s COP.

The period from COP25 to COP26 will also be just as crucial, as countries are given until March next year to submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which should reflect scaled up commitments 2 in order to achieve the prescribed climate goals in the Paris Agreement.

PHILIPPINE STATEMENT BY HON. LOREN LEGARDA DEPUTY SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES High Level Segment 25th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP 25) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Madrid, Spai

Madam President,
On behalf of the Filipino people, we thank the people of Spain for rising to the extraordinary challenge of co-hosting COP25. We are confident that the Chilean Presidency will deliver on the higher ambition and faster action that the 1.5 Paris goal requires of the global community.
The latest science tells us that our options to survive and thrive are swiftly diminishing. So in this COP, let us finish the work at hand — that which lets us translate the […]

High-Level Forum of Global Commission on Adaptation Convening Countries: Raising Ambition Ahead of the 2020 Climate Adaptation Summit 10 December 2019 | 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM Institucion Ferial de Madrid-Feria de Madrid Madrid, Spain

The challenge posed by the climate crisis is nothing short of daunting.
Many have been calling on governments to declare a climate emergency. In my view, we have been in a climate emergency since two decades ago.
What we need now is to act decisively with courage, hope, and an unmistakable sense of urgency.
We must approach ambition with the correct frame of mind — we need to focus on scale and speed, because we need to go big and to act fast.
We […]