Supporting the Philippines’ national and international climate policies

Project description

Title: Support to the Philippines in shaping and implementing the international climate regime (SupportCCC II)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
Country: Philippines
Lead executing agency: Philippine Climate Change Commission, in cooperation with the De-partment of Energy, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
Overall term: 2015 to 2019

Context

The Philippines is severely affected by the negative effects of climate change. It is one of the ten countries most at risk around the globe. Extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall and typhoons, are becoming more common. These have dramatic consequences, including major damage to infrastructure and agriculture, as well as the loss of human life. Rising sea levels are already being reported in a number of coastal regions. Poorer population groups who rely on an intact environment for their livelihoods are the most vulnerable.

Since the passing of the Climate Change Act of 2009, the Philippines has been working harder to main-stream climate resilience in its national and sectoral plans, guided by the National Climate Change Action Plan 2011-2028. A national adaptation fund has also been launched, the People’s Survival Fund, which accepts proposals from local government units and accredited non-governmental organisations. These efforts are being coordinated by the Climate Change Commission, chaired by the President.

The Renewable Energy Act of 2008 put the country on the path to increased use of renewable energies, with its target of raising the renewable energy capacity from the current level of around five gigawatts, to 15 gigawatts by 2030.

As one of the most vulnerable countries, the Philippines has made ambitious commitments in the context of international climate change discussions. It assumed the presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) in 2015, and has set its own targets to contribute to the global effort of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

Objective

The Climate Change Commission and other key stakeholders in the Philippines ensure the coherent implementation of climate change policy at national and sub-national levels, and contribute to the further development of the international climate change regime.

Approach

The project builds on the experiences and results of an earlier project, ‘Support to the Climate Change Commission in implementing the National Climate Change Action Plan’, which was also implemented by GIZ and Commission until August 2015 with funding by the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB). This contributed to the strengthening of institutions to implement the National Climate Change Action Plan. It promoted the use of renewable energy through policy mechanisms, such as the feed-in tariffs and net metering, and supported capacity building for climate-resilient planning at the sub-national level.

The current project supports the Climate Change Commission and other agencies, such as the Department of Energy and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, in coordinating and implementing the national climate change policy, in the context of the Philippines’ international commitments. This includes support for the Philippines’ presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme. At the sub-national level, the project works with local government units in developing climate-adaptive land use and development plans, and in accessing climate financing facilities, such as the People’s Survival Fund.

The project also supports the Department of Energy in establishing an effective regulatory framework to promote the use of renewable energy. The project partners are endeavouring to improve the state of energy planning so as to better accommodate the increasing amount of energy from variable renewable sources, such as solar and wind, in the Philippine power system.

Results achieved so far

At the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Paris, in December 2015, the Climate Vulnerable Forum, under the presidency of the Philippines’, conducted successful advocacy for the inclusion of the 1.5 degree goal of maximum global temperature increase, which was then included in the Paris Agreement on climate action.