MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will meet this week with more than 40 other climate vulnerable countries for the first time under the Duterte administration, which vowed not to ratify a global climate change accord.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez will attend the ministerial dialogue of his counterparts in the Vulnerable 20 (V20) Group of Nations in Washington D.C. on Thursday.
"The event will present updates on key initiatives launched by the V20, including the Global Preparedness Partnership (GPP). It will also facilitate the sharing of presentations from members on national experiences of climate finance," the group said on its website.
It will also mark the turnover of the group's chairmanship from the Philippines to Ethiopia. V20 has expanded to cover 43 countries.
In their last meeting in March, V20 nations expressed support to a new climate change deal made in Paris that aimed to limit the warming of the Earth to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
This was however before President Duterte said he would not honor the agreement, which he said could limit the country's efforts at industrialization. As a result, the Senate no longer ratified the deal.
READ: Duterte says he will not honor Paris climate deal
When asked what he will discuss before the V20, Dominguez only said in an e-mail: "Abangan! (Wait for it)."
Last March, V20, led by the Philippines, agreed to charge each other for the amount of carbon they emit over the next decade.
A group was established to gather best practices on carbon pricing and see its viability to be implemented in member-countries.
A fund pool to share climate change costs was also envisioned by 2020.
V20 also signed a partnership with the World Bank, World Food Programme and UN Development Programme, among others, to disburse up to $500 million in financing under the GPP.
The Philippines was among the first countries selected to receive funding.
The Finance chief will also be flying to the US on Tuesday to attend the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from Oct. 7 to 10.
He will be joined by Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia and central bank Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.
Dominguez is expected to hold high-level meetings at the Group of 24 Nations as well as sit at a roundtable discussion with IMF managing director Christine Lagarde.