The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $500-million policy-based loan to the Philippines to support the sustainable management of its marine ecosystems and foster a vibrant, resilient and low-carbon blue economy development.
The funding, part of the Marine Ecosystems for Blue Economy Development Program (Subprogram 1), aims to strengthen the productivity and diversity of the country’s ocean-based economy while improving the health and adaptability of coastal areas and communities.
It also seeks to enhance the plastic and solid waste management value chain and promote investments in the nation’s natural capital to ensure long-term ecological and economic resilience against climate change impacts.
ADB Philippines country director Andrew Jeffries highlighted the program’s significance.
“More than half of the Philippine population is dependent on the country’s oceans and rich marine biodiversity for food and livelihoods, with the blue economy having great potential to be central to attaining inclusive, resilient, and low-carbon development,” Jeffries said.
He said this is the ADB’s first extensive cross-sector program focused on fostering national blue economy development in the region.
The blue economy, which includes sectors like fisheries, ocean-based manufacturing, tourism-related services, shipping and offshore energy, contributed P1.01 trillion to the country’s economy in 2024, equivalent to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product.
However, the Philippines, the world’s second-largest archipelagic nation, faces increasing threats to its marine ecosystems from unsustainable practices, including plastic and solid waste pollution and the severe effects of extreme weather. The nation is hit by at least 20 typhoons annually, with cyclones growing fiercer in recent years.
The program aligns with the Philippine Development Plan 2023–2028 and supports the government’s National Adaptation Plan 2023‒2050 and its nationally determined contribution, focusing on nature-based solutions, climate-resilient livelihoods and blue carbon ecosystems. It leverages the ADB’s existing support for climate action, including the Climate Change Action Program.
The ADB will be joined by the Agence Française de Développement and Germany’s KfW Development Bank, which will provide cofinancing of up to €200 million (about $235 million) each for Subprogram 1.
