H. E. VINCENTE SOTTO III – CVF Global Parliamentarians Meeting

H. E. VINCENTE SOTTO III – CVF Global Parliamentarians Meeting, Senate President of the Philippines

CVF Global Parliamentarians Meeting

“Parliamentarians of Climate Threatened Nations Championing Planetary Prosperity”

November 25, 2020

Excellencies, 

Fellow parliamentarians of the Climate Vulnerable Forum,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of the Senate of the Philippines, I would like to convey our grateful appreciation to the Climate Vulnerable Forum, the Inter Parliamentary Union, and the Global Center on Adaptation, for championing the critical work of parliaments on advancing climate change and sustainable development. We clearly recognize that the best available science mandates us to build the resilience of our communities in order to face the worsening impacts of climate change, as well as pursue a green economic development. 

In the Philippines, the legislators have continuously addressed the prevailing as well as emerging disaster and climate risks by instituting the necessary policy framework through the enactment of crucial laws, such as the Clean Air Act, the Renewable Energy Act, the Climate Change Act, and the Green Jobs Act, just to name a few; most of which were championed in the Senate by a former colleague and one of your own leaders at the CVF, the Honorable Loren Legarda.

Excellencies, enabling our people not only to survive, but prosper, in this era of climate change and pandemics is a moral imperative. We may be vulnerable, our nations may be at most risk, but together we can be a powerful force that could drive the global transformation that we seek for a safer, healthier and more sustainable future. 

Thank you and congratulations once more for the successful conduct of this inaugural Global Meeting of parliamentarians of the Climate Vulnerable Forum. 

Philippines – Sotto – Statement