The Climate Change Commission (CCC) partners with the University of the Philippines Los Baños - Interdisciplinary Studies Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Environment Management (UPLB-INREM) to advance science- and nature-based climate action by launching the country’s first carbon-neutral international conference through INREM 2025.

 

MANILA, 20 November 2025 — The Climate Change Commission (CCC) strengthened its strategic partnership with the academic sector at the 5th International Conference on Integrated Natural Resources and Environment Management (INREM 2025), reinforcing the critical role of science- and nature-based solutions in building a climate-resilient Philippines.

Held from 18 to 20 November, the conference was launched as the country's first carbon-neutral international conference. The event, co-developed and supported by the CCC, was organized by the University of the Philippines Los Baños - Interdisciplinary Studies Center for Integrated Natural Resources and Environment Management (UPLB-INREM).

CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje, in his address, framed the national climate agenda from inspiration to actionable strategy.

“Nations do not rise on strength alone—they rise on understanding. You—our scientists, researchers, policymakers—are the light that steadies the nation in moments of uncertainty. You take complex realities and render them knowable, actionable, and life-saving,” Borje said.

He praised it as a “profound declaration” and a “new national benchmark.” Borje emphasized, “This is more than an event; it's a tangible, science-driven pathway that directly advances our National Adaptation Plan and our Nationally Determined Contribution. Carbon neutrality, powered by our natural ecosystems, is INREM 2025’s game-changer.”

Senator Loren Legarda, in her keynote address, underscored the urgency of the gathering. “When nature-based solutions, INREM integration and strong policy move in one direction, a clear vision emerges. One that restores the systems that we have damaged and turns them into our strongest defenses.”

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla, also speaking at the conference, underscored the need for synergy, stating, “We are also strengthening partnerships with local governments, academic institutions, development organizations, and Indigenous Peoples—ensuring that environmental management is not just a government mandate, but a shared national movement.”

On Day 3, Borje delivered the keynote address, synthesizing the conference's outcomes into a national call to action. He highlighted, “We cannot choose the climate we are born into. But we can choose the country we build in response to it. Let us build a Philippines that stands not as a symbol of risk, but as a beacon of readiness, innovation, and unity.” He stressed that integrated approaches and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are not merely environmental goals but are central to the nation’s climate-proofed development.

The collaboration at INREM 2025 underscores the CCC’s commitment to strengthening the science-policy interface and mainstreaming low-carbon, nature-based practices across all sectors, in direct partnership with the scientific community.

The INREM 2025 served as a crucial platform for knowledge-sharing on managing lake and river basins, seascapes, and rural-urban systems, with the overarching goal of establishing communities of practice to promote NbS and INREM principles in policymaking and implementation across the Asia-Pacific region.

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