Science drives DENR 2025 agenda

- Advertisement -

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), under the leadership of Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, has always been clear that the agency’s policies will be science-based.

Loyzaga has been clear since her first day as leader of the environmental agency that all sectors of society will be heard regarding their suggestions for sustainability efforts and environmental stewardship.

This year is no different as the DENR chief recently emphasized focus areas meant to converge efforts from the government, private sector, civil society and academe, among others.

- Advertisement -

2025 targets

DENR said at the start of the year that among its focus areas for 2025 include the release of information on 1.2 million hectares of classified forest land as priority investment areas for reforestation, agroforestry and forest-related developments.

The agency is also preparing to operationalize the memorandum of cooperation signed by the Philippines and Japan last year that aims to address issues involving climate change adaptation and mitigation, pollution and environmental management, clean energy, safe and sustainable water and access to innovative technologies and financing.

“On climate change, we are accelerating our climate action including optimizing opportunities for co-benefits and the combination of investments in both green and grey infrastructure. We are doing this by identifying areas for reforestation and the introduction of multi-purpose water facilities and infrastructures,” Loyzaga said.

The DENR chief also said the Philippine government is preparing to enhance the country’s readiness for carbon market mechanisms and participation in the global carbon market with the support of partners including the Asian Development Bank.

Loyzaga said that on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction, the DENR is already working with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to improve inputs to landslide and flood risk mapping.

On air quality, the agency will continue to pursue better data collection and monitoring as well as analysis in urban airsheds throughout the country.

The DENR added it has also initiated a ban on chemical applications with high impact on the industry, particularly for lead in paints, asbestos, mercury-added products and ozone-depleting substances, among others.

“As archipelagic countries, both the Philippines and Japan share both the perils as well as the promise of being large ocean nations. The DENR is investing in building our scientific knowledge and capabilities in the management of our ocean environments by establishing marine science stations in all marine biogeographic areas of the Philippines this year,” Loyzaga further said.

Battling the plastics problem

The DENR is optimistic that the government will develop guidelines on proposed incentives for compliant companies under the Expanded Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) Act.

DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said this possibility is being considered to further promote compliance with the law.

The EPR Act, which first came into force in 2022, requires businesses to conduct proper waste management of plastic packaging products such as sachets, rigid plastic packaging products, plastic bags and polystyrene.

“There’s an ongoing talk with the Department of Finance, DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) and DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) to see how we can incentivize compliance… Incentivize companies that are compliant to the EPR… Hopefully this policy will be finalized and approved by June 2025,” Leones said.

The DENR acknowledged challenges in complying with EPR “as it entails cost and effort.”

“Some companies also think they are not covered by the EPR, which is why we have been coordinating with the DTI on the companies that need to be part of the EPR… There was a proposal to notify these non-compliant companies and to inform them requirements of EPR are clear. In the next few months, DENR will be issuing notices of violations for them to explain,” Leones said.

DENR said that at present, there are 978 registered companies under the EPR but only about 700 have submitted compliance reports. Leones said that based on interactions with the DTI, at least 2,000 companies must be part of the EPR.

Leones added that as long as there is no available cheaper alternative for single-use plastics, an outright ban is not viable, especially since it will affect the affordability of basic necessities.

The DENR said that around 2.7 million metric tons of plastic waste is estimated to be generated in the Philippines annually, most of which finds its way into bodies of water.

- Advertisement -spot_img

However, the agency said a baseline and definitive statistics on plastic waste produced by the Philippines is still expected to be produced with the country’s own National Plastic Action Partnership.

The private sector push

The term “net zero” is becoming commonly used among business entities today to announce their plans to be more environmentally friendly. Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of emitted greenhouse gas against the amount being removed from the atmosphere.

However, the country has yet to have a binding plan to achieve net zero apart from the target to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent for the period 2020 to 2030 under the updated Nationally Determined Contribution target.

As such, the local private sector is left on its own without much pressure in applying efforts to achieve net zero.

Despite this situation, First Gen Corp. subsidiary Energy Development Corp. (EDC) has established the Net Zero Carbon Alliance (NZCA), which has members from various businesses, academe and non-government organizations to collectively drive decarbonization efforts among Filipino businesses and contribute to the national climate agenda.

First formed in 2021, NZCA is currently composed of 34 partners that are being empowered to commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 through a comprehensive framework that encompasses best practice sharing, scaled emission reduction and tracking and improved access to green financing by leveraging EDC’s extensive decarbonization experience.

“Building on its 2024 progress, the alliance’s focus in 2025 will be three-fold: strengthening partnerships with key decarbonization enablers both locally and globally, enhancing engagement across diverse industries in the Philippine private sector to broaden its reach and impact, and implementing data-driven performance management systems and assessment protocols that include standardized reporting and enhanced transparency and credibility measures,” NZCA said in a statement.

Author

- Advertisement -

Share post: