French President François Hollande and Philippine leader Benigno Aquino appealed Thursday for urgent global action on climate change, seeking to build momentum for a planned historic accord at a UN summit in Paris, reports Yahoo! News.
On the first day of Hollande's visit to the Philippines, the leaders offered a show of unity they said could serve as a model for rich and poor nations who have long been divided over how to tackle climate change.
"We have a duty to act together and that's why I came here to the Philippines, to launch an appeal, to seal an alliance," Hollande told a business forum ahead of his joint appeal with Aquino.
Hollande is due to host the United Nations' summit in December aiming to seal a global pact that would save the world from the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
He came to the Philippines as part of his campaign to ensure success in Paris because the disaster-plagued Southeast Asian archipelago is seen as a frontline state in the fight against climate change.
The Philippines is typically hit by 20 major storms a year and scientists say they are getting stronger and more unpredictable because of climate change.
In November 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the central Philippines with the strongest winds ever recorded on land, claiming more than 7,350 lives.
Hollande will on Friday visit the small town of Guiuan in the eastern Philippines that was devastated when Haiyan hit with winds of up to 315 kilometres (195 miles) an hour.
In their joint appeal on Thursday, Hollande and Aquino highlighted that people in the Philippines had "endured an unprecedented series of extreme weather events in the last few years".