Marcos cancels COP28 trip as Red Sea hostage situation takes priority

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is no longer attending the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, the chief executive said Thursday, just hours before the start of the critical conference. 

Marcos, who has often mentioned the need to address climate change in his speeches, announced his last-minute decision to skip COP28 on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga will lead the Philippine delegation.

“In light of important developments in the hostage situation involving 17 Filipino seafarers in the Red Sea, I have made the decision not to attend COP28 in Dubai tomorrow,” the president said. 

On Wednesday, a day before COP28, Marcos awarded climate adaptation funds to six local government units. In his speech, the chief executive said he will use COP28 as a platform to call on nations to honor their climate commitments, particularly in financing. 

Although climate change has been a recurring theme in his speeches, green groups have criticized him for not translating his words into tangible actions. 

In Dubai, the progress of countries towards achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be assessed in a process called global stocktake. 

Debates over the operationalization of the loss and damage fund, which will provide compensation to climate-vulnerable countries that are least responsible for the warming of the planet, will also take center stage in the negotiations. 

Marcos said that he will convene a meeting Thursday to facilitate the dispatch of a high-level delegation to Tehran in Iran to provide assistance to the seafarers who are held in captivity by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. 

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized the Israeli-lined cargo vessel Galaxy Leader on November 19 and held hostage its 25 crew members. The ship had been chartered by a Japanese group, and was flying the flag of Bahamas. 

The Houthi fighters said the move was in retaliation for Israel’s war against Palestinian militant group Hamas.