In an interview on the sidelines of the recently concluded Ecosperity Week 2025, Climate Change Commissioner Albert P. Dela Cruz Sr. indicated that the submission of the country’s NDC 3.0 “is part of our obligation, so we will be submitting that and we are doing this as a whole of government approach,” qualifying that the transition phase currently being advanced in the energy sector will be also be a crucial component to that commitment.

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) official added that the various agencies sorting out the country’s new climate action plans “have regular meetings and we have a tracking system,” although he emphasized that the final announcement on the country’s NDC 3.0 shall be done by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.

“She will be the one giving the final announcement … she is the official representative of the President to the Commission. The Commission is a collegial body; and the head of the Commission is the President as represented by the Secretary of DENR,” he expounded

NDC 3.0 sets fresh spin of opportunity for nations to enhance their commitments to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and further pursue adaptation strategies and tangible game-plans to abate climate change impacts.

These submissions are expected to integrate findings from the global stocktake (GST) that has been assessing current efforts as well as the glaring gaps in meeting NDC commitments under the Paris Agreement.

For this new batch of NDC submissions, countries are required to outline clear mitigation and adaptation goals that will serve as comprehensive investment and transformation plans through 2035—and such must be aligned with the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, wherein global emissions need to be slashed by 43 percent around 2030; and 60 percent by 2035 relative to 2019 levels.

In its 2021 NDC submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Philippines committed to aim for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and avoidance of 75 percent for the period 2020 to 2030, compared to a business-as-usual (BAU) cumulative emissions of 3,340.3 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO₂e).

The ‘conditional’ part of that commitment, which accounts for 72.29 percent, is contingent upon the provision of international support—including those on climate finance, technology transfer and capacity-building; while the ‘unconditional’ segment of 2.71 percent represents emissions reduction the country is eyeing to achieve through its own resources and efforts.

Global push for stronger climate action

At the Ecosperity week, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell has underscored the need for “fit-for-purpose solutions” that shall be grounded on regional realities for the NDCs, qualifying that national adaptation plans are essential primarily in determining serious shift in how and where capital must flow

In the same vein, Microsoft founder turned clean tech mogul Bill Gates has called out the perceptible pullback on global collaboration for climate funding, especially in the US, as nothing more than a hiccup; as he opined that the setback won't take long before the money and momentum would come charging back into full throttle.

“I don’t think this current trend where there’s a little less cooperation going on, I don’t think that’s a permanent thing…in the US, we’re going to see how that works against us and come around, maybe not overnight. As you know, there’s a lot of commitment to this cause in the United States,” he stressed.

Gates similarly expressed optimism that with the right investments and partnerships, including in the Asian region, the net-zero goals would be achievable.

“Meeting these goals would require unprecedented investment from the private sector to drive innovation. It would also require extraordinary collaboration across all sectors to get affordable clean energy ideas out of the lab and into the market,” he noted.

The American billionaire similarly raised the need for a ‘green premium’, which accounts for the extra cost of clean alternatives versus traditional solutions; emphasizing that reducing such price tag will be key in mainstreaming clean technologies.