Duterte signs Paris Agreement on climate change

DPA, 01st MARCH, 2017- Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, after previously signalling he would not ratify the Paris Agreement on climate change, has signed it, local media reported Wednesday.

Duterte signed the pact Tuesday night before forwarding it to the Senate for concurrence, the final step in ratification, which was expected to occur Wednesday, the Manila Bulletin reported.

Duterte had previously criticized the cost of ratifying the Paris Agreement, which was drafted within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“The Philippine delegation’s hard work to lobby the 1.5-degree climate goal during the Paris negotiations has finally paid off,” said the Philippines’ Climate Change Commission secretary and vice chairman Emmanuel de Guzman.

“This is a clear articulation of his marching orders for the Climate Change Commission in the succeeding months,” he added.