Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Antonia Loyzaga on Monday called for a whole-of-society approach to accelerate the decarbonization of industries.
The country’s commitments in the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and the Paris Agreement can only be achieved if all stakeholders work together by using nature-based solutions for carbon reduction as the primary strategy in achieving net-zero targets, she said.
The Philippines pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent by 2030 under the NDC, while it committed to help limit global warming to less than 2°C under the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
“Every fraction of a degree counts. And so, we must all work together to achieve what we must envision as our common goal for a safe and sustainable planet,” Loyzaga said.
“We need to prioritize the opportunities identified in the Philippine Development Plan that has just recently been launched, including capacity development on sustainability; environmental, social and governance reporting; conduct of capacity assessments; developing biodiversity friendly enterprises and ecotourism sites; our investments in forestry; and an integration between sustainable land, coastal and marine planning,” she added.
On energy, she said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is reviewing the environmental processes on all on-shore and off-shore solar, wind and power projects to facilitate more capital investments in the renewable energy sector, and speed up the country’s global standard competitiveness.
DENR is also conducting an assessment of all waste-to-fuel and waste-to-energy technologies to address the country’s growing solid waste problem and move toward a circular economy, she noted.