Press Releases

DENR to install trash traps at CDO’s Bitan-ag Creek

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Northern Mindanao has partnered with two barangays in Cagayan de Oro City to undertake a pilot project to install trash traps along Bitan-ag Creek as part of the effort to tackle the growing solid waste problem in the area.
 
The partnership was formalized through the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between DENR Region 10 Executive Director Henry A. Adornado and chairpersons Julito D. Ogsimer and Rexie A. Tinampay of Barangays Lapasan and Puntod, respectively.
 
Under the MOA, the DENR and the barangays will install and maintain two units of trash traps in Bitan-ag Creek to prevent garbage from flowing into rivers and seas. 
 
The project also aims to motivate coastal communities to innovate local solutions to address solid waste, and to promote an income-generating, community-based enterprise.
 
Bitan-ag Creek is one of Cagayan de Oro’s major drainage lines which cuts across the city’s main business district at Limketkai Center.
 
According to Adornado, the project will help mitigate the flow of trash into Macajalar Bay.
 
The DENR, he said, has observed during its cleanup activities that the Bitan-ag Creek along Lapasan and Puntod deposits the biggest volume of wastes to Macajalar Bay.
 
“We see the Trash Trap Project in Bitan-ag Creek as an innovative solution to this issue, in partnership with all of you,” Adornado said during the MOA signing held at the DENR-Region 10 office last Oct. 14.
 
“I am confident that with your strong commitment, manifested by the signing of the MOA today, we will be able to attain our objective in the name of public service,” he added.
 
To construct the trash traps, 57,000 pieces of PET bottles will be collected by the DENR through its Trash for Rice Campaign.
 
The Trash Trap project is in support of DENR’s Tayo ang Kalikasan advocacy campaign and the multi-stakeholder project “Challenge for Change Program: CDO Limpyo Dagat Initiative,” which includes the DENR regional office.
 
Aside from setting up trash traps, DENR Region 10 shall supervise the implementation of the project, provide funds for the honorarium of two trash trap caretakers of Barangay Lapasan, and capacitate the local government units for the operation of the trash traps in coordination with the Environmental Management Bureau.
 
For their part, Barangays Lapasan and Puntod shall coordinate with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office for trash recovery and disposal, and promote the development of community-based enterprises.
 
The two barangays shall designate a permanent focal person, hire caretakers, and monitor the weekly volume of trash, and mobilize zone leaders and the community to conduct regular clean-up activities. They shall also implement information, education, and communication campaign, among others. 
 
For the year 2022, Region 10 is projected to generate 604,952 kilograms of solid waste per day based on the 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan of Cagayan de Oro City. ###
 
 

 

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Loyzaga: DENR to pursue digitization to improve public service delivery, environmental interventions

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will continue to digitize its data resources to improve its public service efficiency and delivery, and to help it come up with effective and timely environmental interventions. 
 
DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga gave this assurance when she served as one of the panelists during the “Boundless: Philippine Digital Convention 2022” held on October 27 in Pasay City. 
 
Loyzaga said the DENR is pushing its boundaries by streamlining some of its processes from a traditional paper record management system to advanced digital platforms in order to fully connect its central office in Quezon City to all its field offices across the country. 
 
“We are hoping that these types of platforms will speed up the design of our different interventions and solutions that will make it more collaborative so we can be more transparent in terms of sharing that data with partners whom we know can contribute to solutions,” Loyzaga said. 
 
Under her leadership, Loyzaga said the DENR – together with the National Economic and Development Authority and the Philippine Statistics Authority – will undertake the formulation of a tool that would help measure the full extent of the country’s natural resources and environmental assets. 
 
The natural capital accounting, she said, will support the development of strategies for a science-based and risk-informed stewardship of the environment. 
 
Loyzaga emphasized the importance of investing in internet of things, or IoT, which is a system of interrelated computing devices and digital machines that has the ability to transfer data over a series of networks, to be able to gather data used in observation, monitoring and analysis. 
 
She said that adopting this kind of system will improve and speed up the DENR’s “on-the-loop” process as these new technologies now relay data real-time. 
 
“Without these technologies and technological platforms, we would not be able to cope with some of the rapid changes that are taking place because of climate change,” Loyzaga said. 
 
According to the DENR chief, global warming has led to extreme uncertainty in the environment, therefore shifting to technological advances would help the DENR’s core business of managing risks and making decisions that are fast and relevant to the changing times. 
 
The Philippine Digital Convention is an annual event where global thought leaders from across all industries discuss new technologies and evolving strategies. 
 
Aside from Loyzaga, this year’s panelists also include Land Bank of the Philippines president and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo, Shell Philippines president and CEO Lorelie Quiambao-Osial and Summit Media president Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng. ###
 
 

 

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PH delegation bares country’s priorities, asserts strategic positions at COP27

The Philippine delegation called for urgent and bolder climate action while unveiling its own needs and priorities at the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change happening in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6 to 18.

Upon returning to Manila last weekend, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga laid out the strategic positions that the Philippine delegation asserted on the first week of meetings and negotiations at the climate conference.

She revealed that the delegation proposed to advance positions in particular work streams of the global discussion that would significantly boost the country’s specific needs and priorities, as well as the need for external support in the form of technology, transfer, capacity-building and financial support.

The work streams were divided into four categories: loss and damage; adaptation; climate finance; and the inclusion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoidance in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The Philippines pushed for the adoption of a precise definition of “loss and damage” to include impacts from extreme climate event and slow onset change, to cover economic and non-economic losses, and to establish a mechanism that would fund and deliver technical support to help countries manage loss and damage.

It also expressed its full support for an initiative to formulate a system of predictable financial support, including an insurance scheme to provide financial resources to affected countries.

The country also agreed to operationalize and fund the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, which aims to provide developing countries with technical assistance.

Stressing that adaptation is an urgent priority for the Philippines, Loyzaga said the country’s delegation called for timely and ambitious delivery of Annex I countries on the means of implementation of finance, technology, and capacity building.

The Philippines also reiterated the urgency and indispensability to fast-track negotiations on adaptation, including National Adaptation Plans and Global Goal on Adaptation.

Finance also plays a huge role in a concrete climate action.

At COP27, the Philippine delegation reported that earthquakes and typhoons cause an average US$3.5 billion per year, which is over 1.0 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, in direct losses to public and private assets. In the next 50 years, it could be estimated that this will exceed to US$33 billion.

The delegation insisted that climate finance should be complemented by viable and effective technology transfer and country-specific capacity building, which must be mobilized towards concrete projects, programs and initiatives.

The Philippines also asserted the need for developed Parties to be transparent in reporting their approaches and strategies for scaling up climate finance.

Lastly, the country advocated for the inclusion of GHG emission avoidance in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement to operationalize claims of developing countries to the remaining safe carbon budget.

Appropriate non-market approaches, focused on climate policy, such as fiscal measures, progressive phasing out of subsidies for fossil fuels, promoting renewable energies, and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, are some of the things that the Philippine delegation supported as well.

The Philippines believes that addressing these are crucial pillars of climate action and is a matter of upholding basic human rights to secure a safer future for everyone.

Loyzaga, who heads the Philippine Delegation, expressed confidence and trust in the expertise of Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago and the members of the Delegation to capably negotiate, put forward, and collaborate with other governments towards achieving the goals of the Philippine climate agenda in the ongoing climate conference.

In a historical first and with the inputs of the Philippine Delegation, the text on the institutional arrangements to operationalize the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage to provide technical assistance, knowledge, and resources to developing countries has been agreed by all Parties at COP27. Included in the text are mentions of human rights, indigenous people, and impacts to communities. One of the subsequent steps would be establishing an operating entity such as a fund or a facility to wholly address loss and damage.

Secretary Loyzaga returned to the Philippines to perform principal functions at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), including addressing the Senate at the deliberation of the DENR budget. ###

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PH Climate Finance position expressed at the 5th High-Level Ministerial Dialogue during COP27

Ambassador of the Philippines to Egypt H.E. Ezzedin H. Tago delivers the Philippine intervention during the High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance on 14 November 2022.

SHARM EL-SHEIK, 14 November 2022 – At the start of the second week of COP27, the COP Presidency convened the fifth High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Finance on the progress and fulfillment of the goal of mobilizing the jointly $100 billion per year by 2020, in the context of meaningful mitigation action and transparency on implementation.

The Dialogue was moderated by the Ministers of Maldives and Finland. For the roundtable discussion, states were asked to share the challenges and key areas of progress in climate finance. Parties were asked how the delivery and transparency of climate financing can be further enhanced and to share lessons learned which can be applied to the deliberations on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG).

During the Philippine intervention, Philippine Ambassador to Egypt His Excellency Ezzedin Tago urged for the adoption of a transformational and operational definition of “climate finance” to include the principles or characteristics of the NCQG, covering both quantitative and qualitative elements, including effectiveness and sources of financing.

The definition of climate finance should espouse accessibility, inclusivity, adequacy, effectivity, predictability, measurability, transparency, additionality, and responsiveness to the needs and priorities of developing countries. The Philippines called for a delivery plan for achieving the $100 billion target that focuses on adaptation financing, scaling up climate finance grants, and streamlining access to financing. The country likewise stated that financial mechanisms should be based on the best available science and technologies.

Ambassador Tago relayed that the collective ambition of scaling-up climate action should be anchored on a transparent, accessible, predictable, and efficient mobilization of climate finance.

At the end of delivering the Philippine intervention, Ambassador Tago highlighted the need for swift and effective initiatives. He stated, “Let us all work to break down the barriers to ambitious climate finance. Let us all endeavor for a climate finance that offers more sustainable results.”

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27), is co-hosted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat and the Government of Egypt. This conference is the largest annual gathering focused on climate change.##

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Loyzaga calls for equitable energy transition in shipping industry

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga emphasized the need for equitable consideration in planning the decarbonization of the global shipping industry during the sidelines of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

“Crafting the framework of energy transition in the shipping industry should make equity the foundation of the plan and implementation,” said Loyzaga, head of the Philippine delegation to COP27 and one of the panelists in the forum, “Delivering a Just Transition in Global Shipping,” organized by the International Labor Organization and United Nations Global Impact last November 9.

The forum highlighted key actions to fully decarbonize international shipping by 2050 in line with the agenda of COP27 to provide clear pathways for parties and stakeholders to meet the Paris Agreement in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

It also underscored the crucial requirement in upskilling and reskilling maritime workers to gain additional skills from which energy transition will demand, such as in terms of new technologies and global standards.

Loyzaga pointed out that the Philippines is the world’s largest supplier of labor in the shipping industry with one million Filipinos certified with a Seaman’s Book and approximately 400,000 Filipino seafarers at sea at any one time. Filipino nuclear and extended families depending on this livelihood could possibly be as many as 10 times of this workforce, she added.

The environment chief noted that out of the over US$30 billion in inward remittances annually, approximately US$ 6 billion is contributed by the professional maritime sector.

“This is the magnitude of social considerations that need to be factored in the decarbonization of the shipping industry.” Loyzaga said.

Loyzaga said the impact of energy transition must ensure that the welfare and interests of seafarers are at the core of the discussion towards decision-making.

She likewise suggested embedding not only upskilling and reskilling, but also the inclusion of stronger fundamentals in basic education.

Loyzaga said the impact of changing atmosphere-ocean dynamics due to climate change must also be considered in the shipping operations, as well as ensuring health and safety of seafarers in the course of the implementation.

A just transition plan, she said, should also promote gender inclusion and diversity, noting that women compose 39% percent of the Philippine labor force and that the country has one of the highest number of women in senior managerial positions globally.

The forum convened heads of the United Nations bodies, state ministers, trade unions, industry and civil society. ###

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