Vulnerable countries meet in Philippines ahead of Paris climate summit

A global meeting of senior officials of the Climate Vulnerable takes place is scheduled to take place between 9^th and11th November, 2015, at Manila, Philippines, complementing pre-COP 21 events organised in Paris during the same week.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) meets in Manila for a three-day global conference gathering vulnerable countries across regions ahead of the major UN Climate Change Conference at Paris (COP21), commencing on 30 November 2015.

The CVF is chaired by the Philippines and Undersecretary and Climate Change Commissioner Emmanuel de Guzman.

He said international collaboration on climate change is largely based on considerations other than the changing climate, such as regional links, or through countries sharing similar development levels or geographical commonalities.

He further commented that the forum unites developing countries from around the world because of their specific interests on climate change, now a serious global threat to us.

“Our nations all have the most to lose if the international community fails in this challenge. We also have the most to gain from a successful conclusion of a Paris agreement on climate change this year,” he noted.

The global Manila meeting of the Climate Vulnerable Forum is jointly hosted by the Philippine Climate Change Commission and Department of Foreign Affairs, and serves to set the agenda and key messages of vulnerable countries for the UN Climate Change Conference at Paris (COP21).

It also agrees the full program of activities of the CVF through to 2018, which includes cooperative action at intergovernmental level, awareness promotion and the exchange of best practices in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

As the third full global meeting of the CVF, the Manila conference will develop new contributions to shaping critical climate policy decisions, promoting the safeguard of most vulnerable groups.

The event includes presentation of the highlights of the forum to His Excellency President Benigno S. Aquino III, of Philippines, and working sessions with delegates representing wide-ranging vulnerable countries involved in the CVF.

The global CVF event at Manila in November 2015 is the culmination of a series of regional consultations carried out by the CVF during 2014-15 in Africa, Asia, Latin America/Caribbean, the Middle East and the Pacific involving 50 countries.

The Manila conference has been prepared through a series of activities involving negotiators and diplomatic representatives in Bonn, Geneva and New York, and also marks the second occasion in the history of CVF that other countries will be considered for confirmation to join the international cooperation group, potentially expanding its membership.

Beyond the existing 20 member countries of the CVF, a large number of observer developing countries are taking part in the Manila meeting. International and civil society organizations and international experts are also being involved in the Manila CVF conference ahead of COP21.

In October 2015 at the UN climate talks in Bonn, the CVF, together with CARE International, launched an online campaign “#1o5C www.1o5C.org” to garner support for strengthening the 2 degrees C goal to 1.5 degrees, a central priority for over 100 states and many more civil society groups.

At the Lima 2015 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and IMF on 8 October, the CVF’s finance ministers formed the Vulnerable Twenty Group (V20: www.V-20.org) to accelerate progress on international, regional and domestic economic and financial responses to climate change.

Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), has said the momentum of the forum of the vulnerable countries reflects just how expansive the front-line of climate change has become. He noted that almost every year there are more nations being put at high risk.

He said “by meeting together to prepare for the COP21 in Paris and the years ahead, these countries are not only sharing their experiences with each other. Surprisingly, these groups of low and middle income developing countries are also at the forefront of action on climate change and I am sure their enthusiasm will continue to catch on."