Vice Chair and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje of the Climate Change Commission joins international panelists at IDUAI 2025 in Manila, highlighting the Philippines’ commitment to open government and transparency in climate and environmental information.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines welcomed delegates from across the world for the 2025 Global Conference of the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), held on 29–30 September in Manila.  Organized by UNESCO in partnership with various institutions, the conference included the Climate Change Commission (CCC) as a panelist in discussions on open government and environmental transparency.

On the second day, CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje joined in Panel 5: “Open Government for Environmental Information: Building Trust through Transparency,” alongside representatives from civil society and regional partners. The panel explored how open government principles can strengthen accountability and citizen trust in the management of environmental data.

“Data by itself, as everybody knows, is important. But data as it is, is useless. It is the responsibility of the government and stakeholders to turn this into information that is open, public, accessible, and, most importantly, usable. Transparency is a public demand and a good governance imperative,” Borje said, expressing the importance of transforming climate data into useful, actionable information for all stakeholders.

He also underscored the role of partnerships in advancing transparency. “We cannot do this alone. From the onset, we made it a point to engage civil society, because transparency leads to accountability. The more open we are with information, the more trust and stronger relationships we build with our stakeholders,” Borje added.

This commitment echoes the administration’s emphasis on participatory governance. As President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. stressed during the 2025 Open Government Partnership (OGP) Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting in February: “Beyond our variances in our approaches, our shared vision is clear-cut: we want every budget allocation, policy decision, and program implementation to involve public participation—all in pursuit to the empowerment and to the upliftment of our people.”

Through its OGP Commitment, particularly Project IMPACT (Inclusive Monitoring and Participation for Accountability in Climate Transformation), the CCC is working to make climate finance data more accessible and understandable. This citizen-designed platform seeks to strengthen transparency, accountability, and public participation in climate governance.

With the theme “Ensuring Access to Environmental Information in the Digital Age,” the two-day conference gathered government leaders, civil society organizations, legal experts, journalists, and technology specialists. Discussions focused on the critical role of access to information in addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and disaster risks. The sessions also underscored how digital tools and open data can strengthen transparency and empower citizens to take part in environmental governance.

The Manila conference forms part of the annual observance of IDUAI, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2019, which affirms the public’s right to information as a cornerstone of inclusive, transparent, and accountable governance.