More than 76 percent of the climate-tagged budget is allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which is at the center of the corruption controversy. This means that funding for climate is being lost due to corruption within the agency. We must all demand accountability, and, in addition, President Marcos Jr. should ensure that every bit of funding related to climate change prioritizes those who are most vulnerable, not just business as usual.
According to documents from the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD), the proposed climate-tagged budget in the Philippine National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2026 is P983 billion. This amount is allocated through the government's Climate Change Expenditure Tagging system. While this is the official tagged amount, it's important to note the breakdown of this figure:
- P754 billion (76.7%) is allocated to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
- P128 billion (13%) is for the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
- P39 billion (3.99%) is for the Department of Agriculture (DA).
- P9.8 billion (1%) is for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
This climate-tagged budget is part of the "Accelerate Climate Action and Strengthen Disaster Resilience" pillar, which has a total allocation of P261 billion within the proposed P6.793 trillion national budget for 2026.
As the National Chairperson of the Green Party of the Philippines, I endorse and support the call of Greenpeace Philippines. The party also supports the Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Act, pending in the House of Representatives as House Bill 4420.
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PRESS RELEASE | Climate Survivors Reveal Trillion-dollar “Polluter's Climate Bill” — Call on BBM to Ensure Funding and Accountability
October 7, 2025, Pasay City—Climate survivors, with the support of Greenpeace Philippines and other allies, today called on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr to ensure that funding for immense loss and damages from climate disasters reach those who most need it—the communities most affected by the climate crisis.
At the venue of the 7th meeting of the Board for the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), the activists and community representatives unfurled a massive “polluter's climate bill” with a total of five trillion dollars, a partial accounting of the estimated loss and damage cost caused by the emissions of just the top five investor-owned oil and gas companies since 2015 (the year of the Paris Agreement). [1]
The climate survivors taking action hail from various vulnerable areas such as Marikina City; Salcedo, Eastern Samar; and Tubigon, Bohol. Each has survived some of the most dangerous flooding and most powerful storms in the world.
“We are here today outside the venue for the board meeting for the Fund Responding to Loss and Damage to demand an end to impunity and greed from climate polluters and make them pay for escalating loss and damage,” said Arnold Obguia, climate survivor from Bilangbilangan, in Tubigan. “We survivors have repeatedly paid for destruction caused by the rich and the greedy, while struggling to recover again and again, and even just to keep afloat.”
“President Marcos and the Philippine Government, as host of the board, must show genuine leadership,” said Arnold. “President BBM, lead the efforts to fill the fund and make it accessible directly to those who need it, and would not pocket it for personal gain.”
“Greed is the true disaster,” said Greenpeace Campaigner Jefferson Chua. “Fossil fuel giants are burning the planet for profit, while corruption is draining the defenses that should be protecting our people. President Marcos must act now and make polluters pay. That is what Filipinos and exposed communities all over the world are owed.”
The bill includes items such as the PHP47.6 billion worth of damages caused by Typhoon Odette. It also notes the corruption in Philippine government flood control projects and climate funding—an estimate of up to PHP1.089 trillion—which is making the already dire climate crisis worse for Filipinos. [2]
According to Maya Quirino, Advocacy Coordinator of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), the president must step up his obligation to address the financing gap of the FRLD, whose current pledges amount to just 786 million dollars or just 0.01% of the polluter’s climate bill.
“As the host country of the Fund Responding to Loss and Damage Board, we must demonstrate leadership by pushing for landmark national legislation that will compel coal, oil, and gas companies to face justice and pay up,” said Quirino. “We must certify as urgent the passage of the Climate Accountability Bill, which will establish a due diligence standard of care and a loss and damage mechanism that ensures loss and damage payments are anchored on climate justice.” [3]
The FRLD is a financial mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to address the growing needs of vulnerable communities in developing countries facing the irreversible impacts of climate change. Wealthy nations, which have produced most historical emissions and continue to headquarter oil and gas giants, have pledged a collective $731 million to the fund–an amount that falls immensely short of the annual estimate of $400 billion or more that Global South countries like the Philippines need to cope with climate-related damages.
References:
[1] The quantification of economic damages since 2015 ($5 trillion) was provided to Greenpeace International by Prof. James Rising of the University of Delaware and Dr. Lisa Rennels of Stanford University. The analysis uses data from the Carbon Majors Database and the SCC methodology. The SCC was used by former US administrations and policy analysts to assign a dollar value to future damages from an additional ton of CO₂ between the year of its emissions through to the year 2300.
Emissions data for the oil and gas companies was provided by the Carbon Majors Database, which in turn sources emissions data from publicly available company reports.
[2] The giant bill is also populated with a selection of some of the most expensive and notable extreme weather events since the Paris Agreement was adopted. Data on international disasters are sourced from the International Disaster Database EM-DAT. In this case they are noted for representative purposes only and not as part of the social cost of carbon calculation.
Cost estimates on Philippine disasters are based on Greenpeace Philippines’ desktop research, with data sourced from Reliefweb, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Bank, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), and online news reports.
[3] The Climate Accountability (CLIMA) Act, pending in the House of Representatives as House Bill 4420, seeks to change prevailing business practices of major climate-polluting companies, and require them to compensate communities for losses and damages related to climate change.
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