Activities for Philippines

The 2nd Philippines-Japan Environment Week was held in Manila from January 13 to 15, 2025. PaSTI hosted a seminar on environmental finance as one of the thematic sessions.

In the keynote speech, Dr. Pawan from the World Bank shared the latest information on carbon pricing, which has been attracting attention in ASEAN, including carbon taxes and emission trading systems. Additionally, OECC presented trends in sustainability-related information disclosure involving listed companies, as well as green finance and sustainability finance, including green loans, green bonds, and sustainability-linked bonds.

During the panel discussion, representatives from the private and financial sectors, as well as officials from the Philippine government, were invited to discuss various initiatives. These included efforts to mobilize funds such as green finance, sustainability finance, and transition credits to support environmentally conscious business activities. Furthermore, discussions were held on support for calculating, reporting, and disclosing GHG emissions and promoting emission reduction measures.
As a summary of the discussions, Dr. Lee from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), who served as the moderator, affirmed ADB's role as a climate bank. He highlighted its commitment to mobilizing private and incentive loans to meet the financial needs required for the transition while promoting regional and international cooperation.

As a side event of the Second Philippines-Japan Environment Week, a session titled "Promoting Quality Corporate-Level GHG Measurement and Reporting as a Business Opportunity" was held on January 13, 2025. This event aimed to promote the adoption of corporate-level mitigation measures toward achieving the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets in the Philippines. Conducted both on-site and online, it was attended by over 200 business representatives from the Philippines and Japan.

In presentations from the Japanese side, which were based on PaSTI initiatives, updates were provided on the development of GHG reporting systems in ASEAN countries in preparation for carbon pricing, efforts by various nations for GHG accounting and reporting in the private sector, and insights into international trends on GHG accounting and reporting, including the supply chain. Additionally, information was shared on Japan’s GHG emissions accounting and reporting systems as well as an introduction to the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

During the panel discussion, local business representatives from the Philippines reported on their efforts to reduce GHG emissions.

Presentations by Philippine government officials covered not only information-sharing demonstrations on emissions accounting using templates but also emphasized the government’s commitment to encouraging private sector participation in GHG accounting and reporting to achieve NDC targets.

Of particular note was an announcement by the director of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stating that sustainability-related disclosures would soon be aligned with international standards. This announcement prompted lively questions from participants, highlighting their strong interest and commitment to GHG accounting, reporting, and addressing climate change.

A "Briefing Session on the Enhanced Guidelines for Quality GHG Measurement and Reporting, and Reduction" was held in Cebu, Republic of the Philippines, involving private companies and local governments.

In recent years, the Republic of the Philippines has developed its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan (NDCIP), reflecting the increasing demand for climate-resilient and sustainable development. The private sector can also contribute to mitigating climate change by accurately measuring GHG emissions and making efforts to reduce them.
This briefing session was organized to support and promote the achievement of the Philippines' NDC goals and high-quality GHG measurement and reporting within the private sector. It featured a presentation from the Philippine government sharing "The Philippines’ Commitments on GHG Reporting and Tracking of NDC Progress," as well as a panel discussion by private sector representatives on "Practices and Challenges in accounting and managing GHG emissions." Additionally, Japan shared its experiences in reducing GHG emissions and introduced the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM).

An active discussion took place through a Q&A session between participants and presenters, covering topics such as quality GHG measurement, reporting, reduction, and the direction of companies toward a decarbonized society.

After the briefing session, we visited local companies based in Cebu and Mindanao to conduct consultations on GHG emission measurement and identifying potential reduction opportunities, in preparation for the implementation of a model GHG emission reporting initiative.

In the Philippines, efforts to strengthen greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reporting in the private sector are underway. In order to support the establishment of a GHG emissions accounting and reporting system, PaSTI is working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Climate Change Commission (CCC), and the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This collaboration aims to build a framework for collecting GHG emissions data from the private sector using the sustainability reporting system that has been mandatory for listed companies from 2023.

In FY2023, templates for GHG emission calculation reporting were created mainly by DENR in accordance with the SEC's new sustainability reporting format, and templates including activity data and emission factors to calculate GHG emissions were prepared for each industrial sector.

Additionally, on March 25, 2024, a workshop targeting private enterprises and local governments in sectors related to industrial processes and waste management was held in Metro Manila, sponsored by PaSTI. In this workshop, information on templates for GHG emissions calculation & reporting, the benefits of voluntarily disclosing information for companies toward decarbonization, and good practices of corporate initiatives in the Philippines was shared.

With the strong leadership and support of DENR, PaSTI-Philippines Project made steady progress in the past fiscal year.

Building upon the activities conducted in previous years, PaSTI-Philippines project continued its efforts to investigate the systems related to corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounting and reporting in the country. Through this investigation, we proposed the collaboration between the Sustainability Reporting System implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the GHG data collection initiatives promoted by DENR. This marked the first step towards realizing this collaboration. Specifically, PaSTI held regular workshops and discussions in cooperation with DENR, the Climate Change Commission (CCC), and SEC, aiming to clarify the roles of relevant government agencies and engage in discussions regarding the necessary legal arrangements. As a result, the project has continued to actively explore inter-agency collaboration to facilitate smooth and effective corporate reporting on GHG emissions.

Additionally, we organised a study tour to Japan, where we showcased examples of GHG emissions reporting by businesses in our country and discussed incentives to enhance corporate transparency. This study tour brought together participants from various institutions and organisations, including DENR, CCC, SEC, the private sector, and consultants. It provided a valuable platform for expanding communication opportunities and fostering collaboration among these organisations.

Overall, under the guidance of DENR, the PaSTI-Philippines Project made significant progress in promoting sustainable practices and establishing a framework for inter-organisational cooperation. We look forward to continuing our efforts in the coming year with the aim of achieving further success in GHG emissions accounting and reporting in the Philippines.

Two workshops for the PaSTI Workshop Series Phase 2 on Capacity Building on Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of Climate Change Mitigation were co-organized by the MOEJ and the DENR-EMB and held in January and March 2022.

In the first workshop, titled as “MRV 201: How to measure facility level GHG emissions,” two Japanese companies were invited to introduce their data collection measures on GHG emissions measurement to comply for the Japanese Mandatory GHG Accounting and Reporting System or for the JCM project and shared their basic knowledge on GHG emissions MRVs. A local company in the cement sector was also invited to showcase their climate transparency activities in the Philippines.

The second workshop was titled as “PaSTI Public-Private Sector Dialogue on MRV," and was organized as one of the official seminar of the First Japan-Philippines Climate Week. In this workshop panelists with knowledge and experiences on MRV system were invited from the waste sector and other private sectors in the Philippines. They to exchanged opinions and needs with government officials on how to organize the public-private cooperation for efforts to establish MRV systems that ensures incentives for their actions.

For more details, please visit PaSTI Official Youtube Channel

Aiming to build capacities on measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of climate change mitigation of the Philippines’ private sector in the Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU) and Waste sector, OECC is co-organizing virtual workshops with the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB). The first workshop series consisting of three online workshops were successfully completed.

The title of this PaSTI WS series is "Capcity Building on Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) of Climate Change Mitigation".

You can find the webinar videos on PaSTI Official Channel.

The second online workshop was held on December 9, 2020. Representatives from the private sector, as well as The Climate Change Commission (CCC), DENR and other government agencies (at national and local level) participated in the workshop to understand the process and requirements in the development and design of MRV systems for climate change mitigation, and to exchange views regarding case studies from Japan and the Philippines.

You can recap the 2nd workshop here: PaSTI Official Youtube Channel.

Following a letter issued by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the Ministry of the Environment, Japan in September 2019 indicating its interest in bilateral cooperation under PaSTI, a stakeholder meeting was held on November 6th.

Participants shared information on transparency systems in Japan and the current status of climate change initiatives in the Philippines. They confirmed through the discussion that PaSTI will leverage existing reporting platforms in the Philippines and enhance climate change actions and measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system especially in industrial process and product use (IPPU) sector and waste sector.

The both parties have agreed to continue the dialogue and work with the private sector as well to promote the PaSTI project.