Hollande tours typhoon-hit areas
President promises to ‘remember your faces’ when France hosts climate conference
French President Francois Hollande yesterday took his warning about the need for funds for a landmark climate deal to a central Philippine town that was devastated by a killer typhoon in 2013.
Speaking at a public school in Guiuan, where Typhoon Haiyan made its first landfall before claiming more than 7,300 lives, Hollande promised to “remember your faces”, when France hosts the climate conference in December.
On Thursday, he and President Benigno Aquino III launched an international appeal to back efforts to seal the accord in Paris. Hollande warned that there will be no deal if wealthy countries don’t commit adequate funds to help poor nations fight global warming.
“I wanted to come here in Guiuan to show to the entire world what a disaster you have suffered,” he told a crowd of more than 1,000. “I wanted to show them your houses destroyed, the port damaged, your church that collapsed.”
French actresses, Oscarwinner Marion Cotillard and Melanie Laurent, added star power to Hollande’s visit.
“I hope he can help us. Our town is always hit by typhoons, we are like the doorway for typhoons,” said Arnel Castillo, a 29-year-old fisherman. The father of two said he was struggling to provide for his family after his boat was destroyed in the typhoon onslaught.
The Paris agreement isn’t expected to stop climate change, but organisers hope to secure for the first time the commitment of most countries to do something about it. Previously only rich countries have committed to limit their emissions of global warming gases, primarily carbon dioxide, from the burning of coal, oil and gas.
The slow-moving UN talks got a boost last year when top climate polluters China and the US jointly announced emissions-limiting pledges for the Paris deal, which would take effect in 2020. The conference faces a major dilemma on how to raise $100 billion (Dh367 billion) in yearly climate aid by 2020 to help poorer economies transition to clean energy.