Philippines commissioner gives emotional address at COP19 in wake of Typhoon Haiyan
The climate change commissioner of the Philippines makes emotional speech at the start of COP19 in Warsaw, Poland and demands concrete action to tackle climate change
Naderev Saño, the climate change commissioner of the Philippines gave a passionate speech at the start of the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this week.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference began in the Polish capital on Monday 11 November and the recent Typhoon Haiyan has been high on the agenda.
Saño said:“I speak for my delegation, but I speak for the countless people who will no longer be able to speak for themselves after perishing from the storm. I speak also for those who have been orphaned by the storm. I speak for those, the people now racing against time to save survivors and alleviate the suffering of the people affected,”
Saño's speech came three days after Typhoon Haiyan caused devatation in the Philippines and the commissioner revealed that he would fast for the entire two-week conference in solidarity with his brother who has not eaten for days in the aftermath of the typhoon.
The typhoon has been recorded as one of the most powerful storms in history and the official death toll is likely to climb significantly once rescuers reach remote parts of the coast.
Saño continued: “It’s always hard to attribute a single weather event to climate change. But we know that the science is also clear, that climate change will mean more intense typhoons, potentially. And even if we cannot attribute Haiyan to climate change directly, my country refuses to accept a future where super-typhoons become a regular fixture.”