Philippines Pushes Developing Countries to Cut Their Emissions  - NYTimes.comPhilippines Pushes Developing Countries to Cut Their Emissions  - NYTimes.com






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World |​​NYT Now

Philippines Pushes Developing Countries to Cut Their Emissions 

By CORAL DAVENPORTDEC. 8, 2014
 
Inside








Photo






Burning debris from Typhoon Hagupit in the Philippines. At a United Nations summit meeting, officials from the nation, which scientists say is among the most vulnerable to climate change, are pressing every nation to reduce their use of fossil fuels.

Credit
            Francis R. Malasig/European Pressphoto Agency        



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LIMA, Peru —  As the torrential rains of Typhoon Hagupit flood the Philippines, driving millions of people from their homes, the Philippine government arrived at a United Nations climate change summit meeting on Monday to push hard for a new international deal requiring all nations, including developing countries, to cut their use of fossil fuels.It is a conscious pivot for the Philippines, one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. But scientists say the nation is also among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and the Philippine government says it is suffering too many human and economic losses from the burning of fossil fuels.Previously, Philippine negotiators — most notably, climate diplomat Naderev Saño, who shot to fame last year after staging a hunger strike in the wake of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan — have not been shy about demanding that the industrialized world cut its carbon emissions. 

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But now, the negotiators say, the Philippines is pledging cuts of its own and urging other developing nations to follow suit, a significant shift that they hope will advance global negotiations.Negotiators here in Peru are working this week on a climate change accord, with the aim of producing one that will be signed by world leaders next year in Paris.“The thinking of the pivot is — we’re going to take on commitments and do our part,” said Tony La Viña, a Philippine climate change delegate. “The call has always been for developed countries to act. But the thinking is simple. If we’re going to get hit every year again and again, how can we call on developed countries to reduce their emissions, but not reduce our own?”The move follows a joint announcement in November by the United States and China that both countries — the world’s two largest carbon polluters — will commit to reducing their fossil fuel emissions in the coming years.Climate negotiators had hoped that the announcement by China would help end an impasse that, for 20 years, has plagued efforts to forge a global deal to stop climate change: Developing economies insist that industrialized nations — as the world’s historic polluters — greatly reduce emissions, while poor countries remain exempt from such requirements.The announcement by the Philippines “builds on the dramatic U.S.-China announcement two weeks ago,” said Robert N. Stavins, director of the Harvard Environmental Economics Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. “It shows that there can be a deal in which emerging economies and countries on the growth path from developed to developing are now willing to negotiate.”In particular, negotiators have hoped that the American deal with China would spur action from India, the world’s third-largest carbon polluter. But more broadly, climate negotiators hope to bring every nation in the world to the table to pledge cuts, regardless of the size of economy.
In a clear sign of the shift by the Philippines, delegates from the country said they were breaking away from an informal bloc of nations known as the “Like-Minded Group,” which has for the past two years negotiated together on climate treaties.Continue reading the main story
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The group includes nations like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela and other petro-states, which have long been viewed as stalling the push for an ambitious global deal designed to lower global oil consumption.Instead, the Philippines assumed the chairmanship of another negotiating bloc — the “Most Vulnerable Countries.”“The Philippines is thrilled with this opportunity to play a central role in stepping up the joint efforts for vulnerable countries,” said Mary Ann Lucille Sering, secretary of the Philippines climate change commission.“We have sustained losses every year since 2008 of 5 percent of GDP,” she said. “We are experiencing tremendous damages and loss of life from typhoons.”Climate change policy experts applauded the country’s new move but suggested that it could prompt an exodus of other countries from the “Like-Minded Group.”“They’re playing a new role,” said Jennifer Morgan, an expert on climate change negotiations with the World Resources Institute, a research group. “It will be interesting to see if other countries, vulnerable countries, pull out of that group.”
The switch came as Typhoon Hagupit — translated in English as “Lasher” — churned through the nation. A series of scientific reports have linked the burning of fossil fuels with rising sea levels and more powerful typhoons, like those that have battered the island nation.
“How many more lashings can we bear?” Ms. Sering asked.But even as the Philippine delegation announced its new stance, many noticed the absence of Mr. Saño, who had become the face of the country’s climate efforts.Last year, weeks after super typhoon Haiyan left thousands dead in its wake, Mr. Saño gave an impassioned, weeping speech that electrified the annual United Nations climate change summit meeting, demanding that the world wake up to the impact of fossil fuels on his homeland.Over the next year, he gained world attention as an advocate for his cause, staging a hunger strike, giving speeches to thousands and taking part in a 38-day climate awareness march from Manila to his flattened hometown Tacloban.Mr. Saño’s tactics were widely credited with raising awareness of climate change inside a government with economic ties to some of the world’s biggest oil producers. But they did not necessarily translate to good negotiating practices, his colleagues said. This year, the government did not include Mr. Saño in the official negotiating team. He is in Manila, helping victims of the typhoon.Mr. La Viña, the Philippine negotiator who was also Mr. Saño’s law professor at the University of the Philippines, said he admired his former student’s passion. But Mr. La Viña questioned the efficacy of tearful, angry demands that rich countries make “climate justice” amends to poor countries.
“Everyone’s heard that,” he said.Such an approach, while it may be morally justified, does not play well at the negotiating table, Mr. La Viña said. That is why the Philippine delegation this year is not spotlighting its prominent activist, but rather the fact that it intends to put forward a plan to reduce its own emissions.“If you change the conversation to what you can do, you get listened to more,” Mr. La Viña said.


A version of this article appears in print on December 9, 2014, on page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Philippines Pushes Developing Countries to Cut Their Emissions.  Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe









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