Marcos invited to attend COP28 summit in Dubai, says Malacañang

Raffy Cabristante, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the Philippines Mohamed Obaid Salem Alqataam Alzaabi at Malacañang Palace in Manila on June 13, 2023. Presidential Communications Office/Facebook" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/06/14/president-ferdinand-marcos-jr.jpg"/><figcaption>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the Philippines Mohamed Obaid Salem Alqataam Alzaabi at Malacañang Palace in Manila on June 13, 2023. <em>Presidential Communications Office/Facebook</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED)</strong> — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been invited to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this year, Malacañang said Wednesday.</p><p>UAE Ambassador to the Philippines Mohamed Obaid Salem Alqataam Alzaabi relayed the invitation to Marcos during his courtesy visit to the President on Tuesday.</p><p>On Thursday, Marcos said he hoped to attend the conference, saying he considers climate change &quot;a primordial issue.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We were talking about precisely COP 28, I hope to be able to attend because climate change is a primordial issue when it comes to the Philippines,&quot; Marcos told reporters at the sidelines of a trade forum in Taguig City.</p><p>Aside from attending the summit, the President said he also plans to renew the country&#x27;s ties with UAE during his possible visit to Dubai, noting that many Filipinos work and live in the Arab country.</p><p>“Kaya’t kailangan makatiyak tayo na patuloy ang kanilang magandang pagtrato sa ating mga kababayan sa UAE,&quot; he added.</p><p>(We have to make sure that our fellow Filipinos in the UAE are treated well.)</p><p>Also known as the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Climate Change Conference will be held in Dubai&#x27;s Expo City from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12.</p><p>The summit was first held in 1995 in Berlin, with its most recent edition held in Egypt last November. During last year&#x27;s meeting, participating countries agreed to a &quot;loss and damage&quot; program, where richer countries pay compensations to poorer countries affected by climate change.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/21/22/china-says-long-way-to-go-after-cop27-climate-deal">China says &#x27;long way to go&#x27; after COP27 climate deal</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/11/07/22/ph-delegate-calls-for-bolder-climate-action-in-cop27">PH delegate calls for bolder climate action in COP27</a></li></ul><div><strong>ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS</strong></div><p>During his visit to Malacañang, Alzaabi reaffirmed the UAE government&#x27;s support for the Philippines&#x27; environmental and economic programs.</p><p>The Emirati envoy told Marcos that his country was looking forward to the Philippines becoming a member of the Global Mangrove Alliance, which would help the country weather natural disasters and sustain abundant waterways.</p><p>Marcos said that while the country was &quot;very pleased&quot; to join the alliance, he wanted to study its structure and the Philippines&#x27; commitment to it first.</p><p>&quot;The preservation of the mangroves is a very big issue. It is a very important point for the Philippines because of all the waterways that we have,” he said.</p><p>“We have made great efforts to preserve and restore our mangrove ecosystem. As a matter of fact, the law in the Philippines is, you cannot touch mangroves at all, and because of that, the mangroves have grown back,” he added.</p><div><strong>MAYON EFFORTS</strong></div><p>Marcos also thanked Alzaabi and the UAE for extending aid to families affected by the ongoing unrest of Mayon Volcano in Albay.</p><p>The President vowed that he would &quot;gladly inform&quot; residents in Albay of the UAE government&#x27;s assistance.</p><p>Malacañang did not disclose additional details on the aid the Emirati government gave.</p><p>For their part, UAE officials assured that they were &quot;more than willing&quot; to provide any assistance to the Philippines at all times.</p><p>“Thank you. That is very, very generous of you,” Marcos said in response.</p><p>Around 17,000 people have fled their homes as Mayon&#x27;s unrest continued, the local government said on Thursday. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/15/23/17000-flee-homes-as-mayon-unrest-continues ">Around 17,000 flee homes as Mayon unrest continues</a></li></ul><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1636401" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

As of writing, Malacañang has yet to confirm if Marcos accepted or declined the invitation.

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Marcos invited to attend COP28 summit in Dubai, says Malacañang

Marcos invited to attend COP28 summit in Dubai, says Malacañang

Raffy Cabristante,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 14, 2023 03:45 PM PHT

|

Updated Jun 15, 2023 01:11 PM PHT

Read More:

Malacañang

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

climate change

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

Mayon Volcano

COP28

United Nations

mangroves

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