Philippine floods highlight need for urgent action on climate change

BANGKOK - As the Philippines was struggling to recover from the aftermath of two tropical cyclones, delegates from 177 countries were meeting in Thailand’s capital to iron out a comprehensive climate change agreement that is set to be finalized this December in Denmark. Scientists and environmentalists emphasized the urgent need for world leaders to halt the worsening of climate change and address its disastrous impact, which may include more frequent extreme weather events like tropical storm Ondoy, which ravaged Manila recently. “[Developed] countries must act now with urgency to moderate these storms and spare the whole world from the impoverishing and devastating impacts of climate change, especially to low-lying archipelagic island nations like the Philippines," said Presidential Adviser on Climate Change Heherson Alvarez at a press conference. Alvarez headed the Philippines’ 27-member delegation to the Bangkok Climate Change Talks. The delegation also included officials from the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, Science and Technology, Energy, and Agriculture, as well as representatives from non-government and people’s organizations. GMA News and Public Affairs producer Pia Faustino filed the video report below, part of a series of reports that she is doing for GMANews.TV on climate change until the pivotal UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Among the topics under negotiation until December are new emissions reduction targets for wealthy countries along with sustainable development actions, financial assistance, and technology transfer options for poorer countries that are hit hardest by the effects of climate change. - GMANews.TV