Marcos, Biden vow to expand collaboration on renewable energy production

WASHINGTON - President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and United States President Joe Biden reaffirmed their commitment to undertake urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the two leaders commit to expand collaboration on renewable energy production.

This as the two leaders recognized that the climate crisis poses an existential threat to the world, noting that the Philippines is vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

"They resolve to expand collaboration on renewable energy production to accelerate the clean energy transition while bringing down energy costs and expanding energy access for families," the joint statement of the two leaders read.

"The leaders hail progress in negotiating a US-Philippines civil nuclear cooperation agreement (“123 agreement”). The United States and the Philippines will also pursue an ambitious program of cooperation on wind, solar, and geothermal energy, while enhancing cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the waste, road, and shipping sectors," it added.

Marcos and Biden met at the White House and had a bilateral meeting aimed at improving ties between the two countries.

They further resolved "to expand cooperation on environmental protections, including enhanced domain awareness, marine conservation, and protecting coastal areas from environmental degradation."

They also pledged to promote increased cooperation and knowledge sharing between Manila and Washington through the Science and Technology Agreement (STA), and the leaders also welcomed US plans to establish an Open-RAN Interoperability Lab in Manila. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News