THE recent visit to Manila of Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission (EC), reinforces Team Europe’s announcement that the European Union is serious in helping the Philippines make the transition to a modern green economy, complete with full utilization of green technologies and circular economy processes.
On the first day of the EC president’s visit, the Philippines and the EU signed a 60-million euro accord operationalizing the Team Europe Initiative on Green Economy under the Global Gateway. The total contribution committed by the EU for this program is 466 million euros. The Team Europe initiative brings together the EC, France, Spain, Germany and Finland. Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden will contribute with expertise and technology transfer.
The Joint Declaration on the Green Economy Program was signed by EU Ambassador Luc Veron, head of the delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, and Environment Secretary Maria Antonio Yulo-Loyzaga during Von der Leyen’s visit to Malacañang on Monday.
Von der Leyen called Global Gateway the EC’s investment strategy for the world, adding that it will support the Philippines on its path to a sustainable future. “We will invest in the transition to a circular economy and the generation of green energy. And we will also provide expertise, training and tech transfers, because this is the way to empower local communities, and that is what the EU cares about,” she said.
‘Listening intently to Von der Leyen’s pronouncements, we can deduce at once that the European Union has big, extensive plans for the Philippines…’
While Von der Leyen’s remarks in Malacañang touched on general topics such as circular economy, renewable energy, and climate change mitigation, the EC’s website specifically says that the Team Europe’s Initiative on Green Economy will develop an industry-led alternative model to the current plastic waste management approach, leading to more sustainable plastic value chains and a reduction of plastic waste and marine litter.
Listening intently to Von der Leyen’s pronouncements, we can deduce at once that the European Union has big, extensive plans for the Philippines, considering the following: the Green Economy Program in the Philippines includes cooperation in the fight against climate change and extreme weather events with the use of the latest technologies such as the “eyes in the sky” or Copernicus satellites.
The EU will also assist the Philippines attain great strides in the digital world, achieving fast and reliable connectivity with submarine cables that the EU plans to build between Europe via the Arctic to Japan, and eventually it could go all the way down to Southeast Asia.
“Global Gateway will also play a crucial role here, and European companies are ready to come and invest in the Philippines,” Von der Leyen said, confirming our hunch that these plans and promises of Team Europe work both ways in terms of economic benefits.
It is nice and reassuring to hear about the EC’s environmental concerns for the Philippines but what invites doubt and further scrutiny is the rigid, template-like roadmap that the EU is touting, short of imposing it on us.
If Rodrigo Duterte was still President, he would have raised quite a number of questions, like what the Philippines stands to benefit from these initiatives, and what the country has to give up in the process, for as the saying goes, there is no free lunch anywhere in the world.
