Why CCC should not be placed under the DENR

A few days ago, Mr. Ludwig Federigan published an op-ed in a newspaper posing the question if the Climate Change Commission (CCC) should be placed under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

For us in the civil society sector who have been engaging with the Philippine government to advocate for more inclusive climate action in the past few years, the answer to that question is a resounding no.

Under the law

Under the Climate Change Act, the CCC is intended as an independent and autonomous body that “shall be the sole policy-making body of the government which shall be tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and action plans of the government”.

It is supposed to be chaired by the Philippine president to ensure this independence. Yet the previous administration started the practice of having a chairperson-designate to said commission. It was continued by the current president, who designated DENR Sec. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga as the chairperson-designate.

This is not to question the competence of Loyzaga, whose track record in climate and disaster work is undeniably credible, especially from her days in the Manila Observatory and the National Resilience Council. This is about the lack of proper coordination among government agencies that causes confusion among both government and non-government stakeholders as to who is supposed to do what.

Addressing the climate crisis demands a “whole-of-government” approach that requires clear and effective coordination. The Climate Change Act and its amending law RA 10174 clearly designate the CCC to lead in coordination within the government, so it should be freed from any competition with other departments in providing policy direction and evaluating the government’s climate work.

The DENR currently handles many aspects of climate work, including on strengthening adaptation measures on the sectors of water resources, ecosystems and biodiversity. It also manages emissions reduction in the waste and industry sectors, while leading in monitoring the capacity of forests to remove climate pollution from the atmosphere.

Yet the climate crisis is ultimately a cross-cutting issue that impacts not just the sectors covered by the DENR’s mandate. It also impacts food security, which is largely under the Department of Agriculture. It concerns our energy security, which is one of the goals for the Department of Energy. Securing ecological integrity is the responsibility of local government units, per RA 7160, which places that part of climate work under DILG.

In the Philippine context, much like with issues regarding disaster risk reduction management (DRRM), it is simply unwise to put climate concerns solely under the mandate of any single department whose mandate may be limited. Thus, it is vital to implement the “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approaches in addressing climate and disaster risks.

The plan

During a national consultation on just transition held on 1 October 2024 in Quezon City, the government presented the Inter-Agency Steering Committee on Climate Change, which displays which agency would lead in addressing a specific climate issue. The committee itself is shown to be chaired by the CCC, with the DENR as the co-chair.

However, this raises the question of how it is supposed to be different from the Climate Change Advisory Board, which was established under the Climate Change Act and fulfills similar functions.

There are also more questions that need answers.

Has the Board ever been formally convened as it is intended? Is the aforementioned inter-agency committee supposed to fulfill this role now? Or is it redundant, given the Board? Most importantly, how can CCC be enabled to do its mandate as the lead policymaking body against the climate crisis in the Philippines?

This crisis is arguably the biggest threat to the Philippines’ pursuit of sustainable development, now and in the future. If our government will properly respond to this, then it must ensure that the current legal and policy framework in the country is suitable for the work that needs to be done. Those questions require answers that the nation needs to know, as we are all stakeholders in this matter.

For us in the civil society sector, what we expect to see at the bare minimum is that the laws are being followed, rights are being respected, there is a well-defined governance and coordination structure with clear designations of who does what, and all sectors are genuinely represented and allowed to participate in climate decision-making processes.

For all the flak that the CCC has received in recent years, many of which have basis, the agency has played a leading role in setting key climate policies and plans that also lay out the coordination set-up within the government.

This has been most notable in the National Adaptation Plan and the Nationally Determined Contribution Implementation Plan, arguably the two most important national climate strategies, that are both published this year.

Yet issues remain that need to be resolved. It is clear under the law: the CCC is to be the body that leads in coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating the work of government agencies on addressing this crisis. The other government agencies, including the DENR, should be the ones more on handling the implementation of adaptation and mitigation policies and measures, consistent with their mandates.

The questions about the Committee and the Board need to be resolved, led by the CCC chair, to address any further coordination issues that one of the most climate-vulnerable countries just cannot afford.

In any case, all of these agencies should be working in both the “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society” principles so we can truly achieve resilience to climate and disaster risks, avert losses of lives and assets, and enable the just transition to a low-emissions, sustainable future.

Instead of putting one government agency over the other, we must focus on enabling all of them to perform their respective mandates that complement one another.

John Leo is the national coordinator of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas and the deputy executive director for Programs and Campaigns of Living Laudato Si’ Philippines. He is also a member of the Youth Advisory Group for Environmental and Climate Justice under the UNDP in Asia and the Pacific. He has been a climate and environment journalist since 2016.