Philippines finalizing framework for first sovereign green bonds —DOF

The Philippine government is finalizing its sustainable finance framework for the issuance of the Philippines’ first-ever sovereign green bonds, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Friday.

In a statement, the DOF said the issuance of the country’s first green bonds is in line with the government’s ongoing effort to mobilize funds for capital-intensive climate adaptation and mitigation projects amid the worsening global warming.

“We are also in the process of completing our sustainable finance framework for the issuance of our first-ever sovereign green bonds,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III Dominguez.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has long prepared the country’s capital markets for the demand in green investments, having released numerous guidelines on the issuance of Green, Social and Sustainability (GSS) bonds that adhere to the standards set by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Finance chief said.

Through the private sector, the Philippines is ahead among its ASEAN peers in accessing climate finance, according to Dominguez, the chairman-designate of the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and head of the Philippine delegation in the recent 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) summit in Glasgow, Scotland.  

Philippine companies have issued $4.8 billion worth of ASEAN-labelled GSS bonds since 2019, the DOF said.

The amount, which is equivalent to 29% of the current total of ASEAN-labelled GSS Bond issuances, is the highest in the region, it said.

In preparation for its maiden green bonds offering and the mainstreaming of climate change in the financial sector, the Philippines launched on October 20 its Sustainable Finance Roadmap to serve as the country's masterplan that will create a synergy between public and private investments in greening the financial system.

Dominguez said the Roadmap incorporates the Philippines’ “whole-of-nation approach” to harnessing finance in support of the country's transition to a clean, sustainable and climate-resilient economy. 

“We are at the threshold of a new climate-conscious age. All the old practices that put the planet under the peril it is in now must yield to new mitigating practices. This transition will be comprehensive and most promising,” Dominguez said.

The Finance chief cited three crucial elements of the "blended approach" to climate finance namely, grants for capacity building, investments for green projects, and subsidies for the financial costs and risks of communities transitioning to a climate-resilient economy.—LDF, GMA News