A new private sector-led global organization is exploring a possible country partnership with the Philippines to assist in hastening its transition to green and renewable energy (RE) sources, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
In a statement, the DOF said on Friday, Nov. 12, that Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III met in Scotland with Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah to briefly discuss a possible list of projects that the organization can help fund for the Philippines.
Rockefeller Foundation is one of the pioneers of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) that committed an initial $10 billion to help accelerate the implementation of clean energy projects in developing economies highly vulnerable to climate change.
Aside from the Rockefeller Foundation, the GEAPP was also recently launched by the IKEA Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund on the sidelines of the 26th United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow.
The GEAPP aims to deliver transformational programs that will accelerate and scale up an equitable energy transition in developing and emerging economies, while creating millions of jobs in the process.
During the meeting, Dominguez said he will discuss the GEAPP proposal with President Duterte so that a list of “actionable” green energy initiatives can be drawn up for consideration by the Alliance.
Dominguez discussed with Shah the decommissioning and repurposing of coal-fired power plants in Mindanao and how the GEAPP can possibly assist in this initiative.
The Philippines has partnered with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to pilot an Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM)-supported project in the country as the government is in the process of rehabilitating the Agus-Pulangi hydropower plant in Mindanao to improve its generating capacity.
As a public-private finance vehicle, the ETM aims to both reduce coal-fired power generation through accelerated plant retirement and boost the growth of RE using an equitable, scalable, and market-based approach.
The Rockefeller Foundation has signed a memorandum of understanding with the ADB on designing and establishing the ETM facility, which was launched here with the Philippines and Indonesia last Nov. 3.
Dominguez said once the Agus-Pulangi power plant complex composed of seven hydropower plants increases its generating capacity, the government can proceed with its plan to gradually acquire coal-fired power plants in Mindanao and repurpose them through the ETM facility.
During the meeting, Dominguez also cited the importance of the “blended approach” or sustainable orchestration of grants, investments, and subsidies to make climate finance work for its beneficiaries.
Shah said these three aspects are the initiatives that the GEAPP wants to implement in partnership with developing and emerging economies like the Philippines.
The GEAPP has already raised an initial commitment of $10 billion from philanthropists, governments, multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, and private sector partners.
This commitment is intended to grow from $35 billion to $50 billion in five years, and over $ 100 billion in 10 years, according to its proponents.
Dominguez, who is also Chairman-designate of the country’s Climate Change Commission (CCC), headed the Philippine delegation to the COP26.
The Philippines accounts for only 0.3 percent of global carbon emissions, but as an archipelago sitting on the typhoon belt and the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is among the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
As its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement, the Philippines has committed to a projected greenhouse gas emission reduction and avoidance of 75 percent from 2020 to 2030 for agriculture, wastes, industry, transport, and energy sectors.