UNDP cites ex-Occidental Mindoro solon as 'Champion of Change'


CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – The United Nations Development Programme has recognized former Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato as a “Champion of Change.”

It is a special recognition for individuals who play a catalytic role in policy processes and act as true agents of change.

Sato’s name appeared in the UNDP Biofin Workbook 2024: Finance for Nature released in October.

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SATO (FB)

She was named along with three other global leaders who have prominently figured in the campaign for biodiversity finance – Doris Rios Rios, vice president of the National Indigenous Board of Costa Rica (MNICR); Sergio Graf Montero, former Minister of Environment in the State of Jalisco in Mexico, and Mutumboi Mundia, a pivotal figure in Zambia’s biodiversity finance landscape and capital market development.

Sato has been part of Biofin since it started in the Philippines in 2014.

Advocating for an increased budget and pushing for laws to enhance biodiversity protection and conservation, Sato facilitated the approval of the Expanded National Protected Areas System law for the Philippines, which increased the number of legislated protected areas from 13 to 107.

As a result, new protected areas became eligible to access public funding estimated between $1 million and $10 million per year.

“As a Biofin champion, Congresswoman Sato continues to support tamaraw conservation within congressional fora, as well as site-level work in the province of Occidental Mindoro through the Together for Tamaraws crowd-funding campaign,” the brief citation for the former lady lawmaker stated.

Sato underscored the enormous benefits and services that biodiversity provides and Filipinos’ dependence on it for survival and for the country’s sustained growth and development.

“Our forests, rivers and streams, the trees and the animals that thrive in the forest, as well as the rich marine wildlife in our coastal and marine environment need to be protected. To do this, we need to put our money where our mouth is and find ways to finance biodiversity,” Sato said.

Biofin (Biodiversity Finance) is an initiative working with governments and the private sector to narrow the financing gap for biodiversity conservation by promoting investments in biodiversity to protect nature, create jobs, reduce pandemics, and combat climate change.

Among the criteria for selecting Champions of Change is that the candidate should be involved in the Biofin process from an early stage.