PH secures ₱15.9 B for climate agenda

Funding to help build greener, more resilient future

- By RAYMUND ANTONIO and DERCO ROSAL

France is providing €250 million (approximately P15.89 billion) worth of loan to the Philippines to scale up its efforts to adapt to climate change and mitigate the economic risks and losses associated with the climate crisis.

The Department of Finance (DOF) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) held a ceremonial exchange on Monday, June 2, to mark the loan’s approval, with the Embassy of France to the Philippines and Micronesia as co-signatory. The bilateral deal was formalized between Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto and France’s Ambassador Marie Fontanel.

In particular, the financing will be allocated for the Climate Change Action Plan, Subprogram 2 (CCAP2), which builds upon CCAP1. This project aims to help vulnerable sectors in the transition to a resilient, low-carbon economy.

The embassy said that the €250-million policy-based loan for the CCAP2 was made possible by the AFD, France's aid development program.

"France and the Philippines share a strong commitment to protecting the climate and the environmentfrom the Manila Call to Action on Climate Change in 2015 to the upcoming Third UN Ocean Conference in Nice in just a few days," Fontanel stated.