23 April 2015 – Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations, Ambassador Cecilia Rebong, witnessed on April 15 the signing of a grant by Germany of EUR 100,000 to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The grant will cover regional and global consultations of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), which the Philippines currently chairs.

“Climate change continues to pose a threat to development priorities.  Germany’s grant will facilitate more substantial focus on the crucial international policy track and to share the great wealth of knowledge we have already accumulated both within and between regions,” said Amb. Rebong.

Germany was represented by Ambassador Joachim Rücker, Permanent Representative to the UN and Other International Organizations, while UNDP-Geneva Director Neil Buhne represented UNDP.

According to the UNDP, the grant will cover regional and global consultations for the first half of the year, including the global consultation among the hosts of previous regional meetings and workshops to be held in Bonn in June 2015.

The Philippines assumed chairmanship of the CVF in January 2015. The CVF is a group of 20 countries that are most vulnerable to climate change and has diverse membership from countries that are most at risk from the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, stronger and more frequent typhoons, and intense droughts.

Its aim is to promote awareness about climate change and to provide a venue for exchanging knowledge and skills among member-states in order to increase their respective capacities to address the impact of climate change.

Other CVF member-states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Nepal, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. END