Ten government units will participate in the Green Economy Program, which seeks to promote the Philippines’ transition to a green economy, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said on Wednesday.
This is after the DENR signed a joint declaration for the Green Economy Program in the Philippines during the visit of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier this week.
Highly urbanized LGUs being considered include Baguio City, Pasig City, Quezon City, Caloocan City, Davao City, as well as Ormoc City, Island Garden City of Samal, Metro Iloilo and the islands of Palawan and Siargao.
Although the details of the projects are not yet complete, Yulo-Loyzaga said in a Malacañang Press Briefing that the DENR had identified the potential LGUs because they are the frontliners in solid waste management efforts in the country, particularly in controlling methane releases from solid waste landfills.
“We are targeting to have all our submissions ready hopefully for assessment by the (National Economic and Development Authority) Board by November of this year,” Yulo-Loyzaga said.
Asked by reporters about the primary LGU concern in terms of solid waste management, the DENR chief said that each stage is still a challenge, especially on how to capture what would be part of both the formal and informal economic activities.
She mentioned waste collection as one of the challenges because this involves logistics and personnel who will collect and properly process wastes in available materials recovery facilities.
“As you know, sanitary landfills are among the main ways that this waste are now disposed of and monitoring the quality of the environment around the sanitary landfills is of course always a challenge ‘no, how the management processes are actually abided by in terms of the ecological soundness of the practices,” she explained.
“We are still in need of some institutionalization in terms of the way our solid wastes are handled locally and consequently our national capacity,” the DENR chief added.
She claimed that the government has started its own initiatives to “green our economy.”
The Green Economy Program seeks to aid the Philippines’ transition to a green economy by promoting circular economies, reducing waste and plastic, and increasing the use of renewable energy sources to aid in the fight against climate change.