NEWS

29.10.2014

Philippines National Budget “Tags” Climate Change Response Funds

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In the Philippines, 53 national agencies have begun the process of "tagging" proposed climate change funding in their 2015 national budget submissions. With over 5% of the total tagged as climate change expenditures, the system intends to make the tracking, strategy and prioritization of the national response to climate change more transparent.

To implement the tagging system, agencies are using common guidelines issued by the Philippines' Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Climate Change Commission (CCC). Approximately 98% of those expenditures tagged are for adaptation measures, such as flood control, reforestation, sector-specific research and development on climate change, and disaster risk reduction (DRR). The majority of funding will go to the infrastructure, environment, agriculture, energy, and science and technology sectors.

The tagging initiative is in response to recommendations from the Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) published in 2013. The World Bank, CCC and DBM have prepared a progress report, titled 'Mobilizing the Budget for Climate Change Response in the Philippines,' detailing the reforms taken since the CPEIR.

The progress report outlines a number of other initiatives taken by the Government of the Philippines aside from the climate finance tagging. The Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation will oversee a five-fold increase in climate change program funding between 2013 and 2015; meanwhile, technical budget hearings have begun to explicitly discuss the prioritization of climate change spending in agency budget submissions. At the local level, 42 government units are piloting climate change tagging in their 2015 annual investment plans.

As further documented by the report, the Government is also mainstreaming adaptation and DRR in land-use planning for towns and cities, strengthening building and infrastructure standards, and promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy standards. Furthermore, it created the People's Survival Fund to support communities and local governments and has developed a disaster risk financing and insurance strategy. [World Bank Press Release] [Mobilizing the Budget for Climate Change Response in the Philippines]

TAGS:

  • CPEIR
  • national budget
  • World Bank