DBM earmarks P453.1B for climate change expenditures under 2023 budget

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday said it has earmarked P453.1 billion climate change expenditures in the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023.

In a statement, the DBM said the government programs, activities, or projects in the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) for climate change include the following:

• avoidance of deforestation,
• monitoring of national and local climate change mitigation actions,
• conservation and protection of existing watershed and protected areas,
• support to research on climate change adaptation,
• conduct of trainings on community-based climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, among others

The DBM said climate change expenditures is in line with the budget message of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to fund climate change expenditures focused on food security, water sufficiency, ecosystem and environmental stability, human security, climate smart industries and services, knowledge and capacity development, and sustainable energy.

“Climate change, as they say, is already here with us to stay. The Philippines in fact is the third most vulnerable country to the impact of climate change, according to the 2017 World Risk Report,” said Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.

“We must therefore act decisively to avert the adverse effects of climate change. Government has in fact increased climate change expenditures from P289.7 billion in 2022 to P453.1 billion in 2023,“ she added.

The DBM said there are eight strategic priorities of the 2023 national expenditures for climate change, namely food security, water security, ecosystem and environmental stability, human security, climate smart industries and services, sustainable energy, knowledge and capacity development, and cross-cutting.

The Budget Department said the President has vowed to increase the funds for climate change programs and activities by an average of at least 15% yearly.

The implementing units for climate change programs are as follows:

• Department of Agrarian Reform
• Department of Agriculture
• state universities and colleges
• Department of Energy
• Department of Environment and Natural Resources
• Department of Foreign Affairs
• Department of Health
• Department of Information and Communications Technology
• Department of the Interior and Local Government
• Department of Justice
• Department of Labor and Employment
• Department of National Defense
• Department of Public Works and Highways
• Department of Science and Technology
• Department of Social Welfare and Development
• Department of Tourism
• Department of Transportation
• National Economic and Development Authority
• Office of the Press Secretary
• other executive offices
• Civil Service Commission
• Commission on Human Rights

Also included are local government units and government corporations, according to the DBM. —Ted Cordero/KBK, GMA News