MANILA, Philippines — Environmental groups called on President Benigno S. Aquino III to take the lead in calling on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to work together and ensure that this year’s last rounds of climate negotiations in Panama and South Africa result in fair, ambitious and binding commitments.

The ASEAN for a Fair, Ambitious and Binding Global Climate Deal (A-FAB), an association spearheaded by Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Oxfam and other partner organizations, appealed to the President to reject policies that increase the country’s carbon footprint and instead speed up plans that would inspire neighboring countries to put climate change at the forefront of ASEAN cooperation.

A-FAB is an umbrella organization calling for a more active and transparent participation of the ASEAN at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The group’s call was made at this week’s ASEAN Energy Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia where the President is the head of a climate change body. This speaks of the significance of climate change as an issue for the Philippines. This week’s Energy Ministerial Meeting and the ASEAN Summit in November are opportunities for the Philippines to inspire ASEAN cooperation,” Oxfam advocacy coordinator for Southeast Asia Shalimar Vitan said.

She noted that Southeast Asian countries are among the most vulnerable and least prepared to deal with climate change impacts.

Vitan cited an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report that puts the cost of adaptation for the agriculture and coastal zones in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia at about $5 billion per year by 2020 on average.

A-FAB urged the ASEAN community to move as a bloc during the upcoming climate change negotiations and push for clear commitments from developed countries for more ambitious carbon emissions reductions, concrete sources of funding for the Green Climate Fund, and ensure that at least 50 percent of funding goes to climate change adaptation in developing countries.