Climate Change Commissioner Rachel Anne S. Herrera said that shifting investments towards low carbon development is an opportunity for growth that is already encouraged by our laws and national plans.

Herrera made the statement in her keynote speech at the Shifting Financial Flows to Invest in Low Carbon Development in Energy in Eastern Visayas, held in Tacloban and organized by the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), in cooperation with the Climate Change Commission (CCC), Visayas State University’s Strategic Research and Development Studies, and Action for Economic Reforms.

“The Philippines should exercise leadership by not further contributing to global warming and this climate crisis. Shifting towards low carbon development is not detrimental to our economy, but in fact, an opportunity for growth to those willing to take it,” Herrera said.

Herrera mentioned that an estimated $4.12 billion is required to carry out the low carbon development initiatives under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) in the areas of green technology innovations, energy efficient technologies, climate-smart infrastructures and designs, and green urban transport systems.

She also cited laws that already encourage low carbon development, such as the Green Jobs Act of 2016, which supports the transformation of sectors through the creation of green jobs and just transition towards a green economy; and the Renewable Energy Law of 2008, which advances the development and use of renewable energy in the country.

Herrera also commended the Eastern Visayas as a region whose energy mix has significant contribution from geothermal and a growing share from solar energy, as well as the recent declaration of Negros Occidental as a source of clean and renewable energy and a coal-free province.

“Let us use these good practices as a stepping stone in creating small island RE grids and in diversifying our energy mix even more by replacing fossil and coal with cleaner energy technologies,” Herrera said.

Herrera also assured that the Climate Change Commission, as the lead agency for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) process and as the National Designated Authority (NDA) to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), will further enable the transition towards a low carbon economy, but noted that the help from all sectors will be crucial to its success.

“Your government cannot enable this shift alone. As we put in place the right conditions to attract domestic and foreign low carbon investments, our financial institutions and private banks must sustain and escalate this green growth to reach new heights,” Herrera concluded.

For reference:

Commissioner Rachel Anne S. Herrera's Keynote Speech