December 11, 2019
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 […]
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December 10, 2019
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 […]
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December 10, 2019
Let us state the facts plainly, so that no one will misunderstand our collective message.
We live in an upside down world.
Today, children have stepped forward to lead.
Today, as our world burns, adults expected to act like leaders behave like children.
When our youth demand action from those with the means to stave off this crisis, the rich and the powerful gaze at their navels, seemingly in love with the illusion they can bring their wealth to the afterlife.
In the meantime, millions […]
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December 9, 2019
Good morning to my fellow legislators.
It is an honor and a pleasure to be with colleagues in this Parliamentary Breakfast of the Global Renewables Congress. I thank Chairperson Bärbel Höhn for this opportunity to hold a dialogue on renewable energy and its role in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
I am often asked why the Philippines—a highly climate-vulnerable archipelagic country considered a non-emitter with only 0.3% contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions—should exert so much effort to achieve […]
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December 6, 2019
Good morning to our distinguished guests; colleagues; ladies; and gentlemen.
I thank the Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (OPRI-SPF) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for this honor and privilege to speak in this event.
In 2016, the Philippines made history, as our very first Filipino-designed and -assembled microsatellite, called Diwata-1, was launched into space. Two years later, its sibling, Diwata-2, was sent into orbit. A nanosatellite, called Maya-1, was also deployed into space in 2018.
The development of these satellites was made possible through the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation Microsatellite Program (PHL-MICROSAT), which is acollaboration among the Department of Science […]
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