15 More importantly, this is contrary to the moral imperative of the climate crisis. The mistakes of the industrialized countries have made this world what it is today, especially the unredeemable characteristics of our modern era: dangerous disruption of the climate system, ecosystems on the brink of ecological collapse, spiraling of the global economy, more people driven into poverty, species extinction, severe scarcity of water resources, rise to power of the oligarchy, food insecurity, depletion of unrenewable natural resources; these among many other challenges. It is in our best interest as a nation to avoid these mistakes and maintain our moral leadership in the fight against climate change, to rally and inspire the rest of the world against this battle that we cannot afford to lose. Not only because we care enough about this issue, but because it is possible to end the fossil fuel era and bring about a new world. Confronting climate change by abandoning dirty energy is not akin to stepping on the brake pedals of our economic development. It is about taking that new road, less traveled, but one that leads us to a sustainable future. Pursuing development does not have to rely on the outmoded fossil fuel apparatus. The future is bright and there is hope. The country must immediately leapfrog to the future. As can be seen from the intent, the key elements, and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, it is of utmost importance for the Philippines to preserve these intent, elements, and objectives as they clearly protect the Philippines’ national interest. Nothing in the Paris Agreement impinges on the Philippines’ right to development, nor is there anything that seeks to put the Philippines at a disadvantage. To the contrary, it is in the actual implementation that the Philippines is short-changed by rich and powerful countries. It is in actual delivery that big countries like the US, EU, Japan, Canada, Australia fail to provide support to developing countries. The track record of these countries in fulfilling their financial obligations under the Convention is dismal, and the Philippines has not really received genuine climate finance, and in the few cases that it had received some kind of finance, there were strings attached. The Paris Agreement is still work in progress, and the negotiations are continuing. The Philippines should continue to sit on the negotiating table in order to ensure the voice of the most impacted communities have a seat at the table, to ensure that there is a voice for climate justice, a voice that fights against climate hegemony, a voice that stands up against the big polluters, a voice that will fight for the future of the Filipino people. We do not want the powerful countries to dominate this process, and the Philippines has shown it can punch above its weight because we have everything to lose if the whole world collectively fails. As the rules, mechanisms, and arrangements for implementing the Paris Agreement is going to be negotiated between now and 2020, it is absolutely crucial for the Philippines to have our best negotiators sitting in the negotiating room. Waiving our right to be there means we let the powerful countries dictate the shape of this Agreement. We just simply cannot afford to let them mangle this agreement to serve their interests, which is mainly to preserve the status quo, preserve global oligarchy and maintain the power in the current world economic order. Their actions belie their diplomatic