CCC Vice Chair and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje and NPC President Fernando Martin Y. Roxas lead the signing of Memorandum of Agreement between CCC and NPC at NPC Headquarters in Diliman, Quezon City. The CCC organizes and participates in various reforestation activities with its partners.

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) is ramping up implementation of strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other human drivers of global warming by lessening carbon footprint.

The recent signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the CCC and National Power Corporation (NPC) signifies the Commission’s commitment to advance the Philippines’ Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of 75 percent GHG emissions reduction and avoidance by 2030.

The partnership further advances the Philippine government’s Carbon Neutrality Program (CNP) – a climate change mitigation strategy through nature-based solutions.

The CCC-NPC partnership on carbon neutrality also aims to rehabilitate open and denuded upland forest, including the streambank identified by NPC within the Caliraya-Lumot Watershed Forest Reserve (CLWFR), through the reforestation of 25 hectares of land in Paete, Laguna; protect and maintain established reforestation project in CLWFR; and support other climate change-related initiatives of the CCC.

Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their biomass and soil. This process, known as carbon sequestration, helps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to global warming.

The CNP, formalized in June 2022, aims to facilitate a science-based forestation initiative to increase the country’s carbon sequestration capacity through nature-based solutions, including tree planting and growing.

The MOA supports the CNP in advancing carbon neutrality among Filipinos, and implementing climate change initiatives related to forestry and sustainable natural resources management.

The MOA signing was led by CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director (VCED) Robert E.A. Borje and NPC President, Fernando Martin Y. Roxas.

"We hope that this MOA can be a model agreement that may be adopted by local government units, NGAs, and private sector. This approach has clear and measurable targets, and will help steer all stakeholders towards concrete results through smaller carbon footprints of organizations, agencies, and communities,” said VCED Borje.

With smaller carbon footprints or emissions in the atmosphere, global warming may be maintained and slowed down, and climate change impacts particularly on vulnerable developing countries like the Philippines will be reduced.

This is the first agreement of NPC with a national government agency. Under the CCC-NPC five-year partnership, at least 15,625 native trees will be planted to sequester around 2,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e) per year. It will also promote biodiversity conservation, water conservation, and sustainable livelihoods for local communities in Paete, Laguna.

With continued efforts, the CCC endeavors to be carbon-neutral by 2032, calculated based on agency-level accumulated GHG emissions.

"We believe that this partnership with the CCC is a significant step towards achieving our goals and contributing to the global and national climate change targets," NPC Pres. Roxas highlighted.

The CCC already organized and participated in various reforestation activities with its partners. Through the CNP, the CCC expects more agreements and partnerships to be forged between and among government agencies, private partners and stakeholders toward the goal of carbon neutrality.

"Achieving carbon neutrality requires a whole-of-nation and whole-of-society approach. It is necessary to mobilize every sector and community to do their share in reducing their carbon footprint and pursue development in a sustainable, climate- friendly manner,” VCED Borje said.

Part of the CCC’s Earth Month Commemoration, CCC and NPC signed the MOA on 26 April 2023 at the NPC Headquarters in Diliman, Quezon City.

CCC Strategic Partnership Division Chief Alexis Lapiz, NPC Vice President and General Counsel Atty. Melchor P. Ridulme, and NPC Vice President for Corporate Affairs Rene B. Barruela, also joined the event.

For more information on the CCC’s climate mainstreaming activities, visit https://climate.gov.ph and www.facebook.com/CCCPhl.