FRENCH President François Hollande is set to visit Manila for two days in late February in return for the visit of President Aquino to Paris in September last year.
Mr. Aquino visited Paris during a four-country European swing that included Spain, Belgium and Germany.
The visit was announced by Nicolas Hulot, special envoy of Hollande, during a news conference at the French ambassador’s residence in Forbes Park, Makati City.
“This is the first visit of a French president since the inauguration of the Philippine independence,” said Hulot, a reporter, writer and television-program maker. He had made three documentaries on the Philippines.
He said that “the two presidents agreed to focus on climate change as one of the objectives of the visit.”
“This visit will be doubly historic,” Hulot said, adding that a French president is not only coming to visit after a long hiatus, but also to discuss the role of France as host of a conference on climate change on December 12 in Paris.
Hollande, as president of the Conference of the Parties, consisting of 195 countries, will act as an impartial facilitator in carrying out constructive negotiations among governments, said Hulot, who was appointed special envoy for the protection of the planet.
“In our experience, climate conference’s success is determined well before the conference opened, and the influence of head of states is essential.”
“I believe that the two presidents can send a common message, as a symbol or spark to mobilize will and reason,” Hulot added.
The Philippines, he said, is in a position to convey the effects of climate change among the 195 participants in Paris, because of the “terrible tragedy and consequences of Supertyphoon Yolanda [international code name Haiyan] in 2013.”
He said the conference will set a limit of 2 degrees Celsius as a maximum limit in global temperature, a boundary set by scientists during an intergovernmental panel of the International Conference on Climate Change.
“If we don’t succeed [to limit global warming], this phenomenon of increased temperature will be irreversible and will continue to increase.”
He said the 2°C cap is the only target within range, but still will not be without consequences, especially to vulnerable countries like the Philippines and South Africa.
“In my trips around the world, I have discovered that climate change caused the death of hundreds of millions every year as a consequence of climate change,” said Hulot, author of several books, including How Many Catastrophes Before Taking Action?
In reply to skeptics who do not believe in global warming, Hulot pointed out that in 1980, the cost of damage to the world economy owing to climate change brought about by global warming was $2 billion in 1980, $14 billion in 2000 and $200 billion in 2012.
“This is a clear trend that climate-change proponents were not able to convey because of lack of funds,” Hulot said.
He said the $100 billion needed for proponents of climate change has not been met because donors failed to honor their commitments.
The Paris conference would attempt to clarify the financing mechanisms that highly industrialized countries will put in place, he said.