Growing a Green Economy for the Philippines
This initiative is dedicated to fostering the creation and expansion of "eco-enterprises" – businesses that champion green and circular economy innovations. The aim is to accelerate the Philippines' journey towards an inclusive, climate-smart circular economy. This involves boosting the active participation of the private and financial sectors in making this green transition a reality.
Our ‘Greenprint’ to Holistic Philippine Private Sector Transformation
Key efforts are being focused nationwide on building strong foundations for sustainable private sector growth and innovation. This involves a comprehensive strategy anchored on three vital private sector pillars–business innovation and transformation, public-private partnerships, and financing. Targeting all three pillars ensures holistic and effective approaches in driving the Philippines’ green transition forward.
Championing Eco-Enterprises
The private business sector holds much promise for circular economy transformation. This output focuses on business innovation and transformation to speed-up the creation of and enhance the sustainability of startup enablers and eco-businesses, transform existing industries to adopt a circular business framework, and create strategic avenues for promoting circular economy. Actions that will push the business sector’s green transition forward are:
- Implementing programs to build skills and provide financial assistance for new ideas in the circular economy.
- Offering capacity-building and financial aid to help existing businesses transform towards circular and sustainable models.
- Running promotional campaigns to encourage the rise of new green businesses, with a special focus on including youth and women.
Developing Green Infrastructure
Advancing sustainable solid waste management (SWM) infrastructure projects ensures that circularity and inclusivity in SWM are done at all levels, including local governments. The Public-Private Partnership Center is a key partner in implementing the activities under this output, providing invaluable support and insights on strengthening public-private partnerships (PPPs) for socially-inclusive solid waste management. Building strong foundations for these PPPs involve the following actions:
- Providing expertise to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center to help develop green infrastructure projects that are socially inclusive and consider gender equality.
- Offering expert advice to municipalities to support the development of two PPP solid waste management projects, including funding for initial feasibility studies.
- Assisting municipalities in creating and applying fair "green procurement" policies (rules that encourage buying environmentally friendly goods and services) for infrastructure projects.
- Developing activities that strengthen local support systems for informal waste workers in selected pilot areas, helping improve their livelihoods.
Strengthening Green Finance
Enhancing the financial sector’s capacity to fund the green transition is crucial. Through this target, support is directed to allocating financing and developing new or additional finance streams towards green and circular economy initiatives and accelerating high-growth-potential innovative green and circular economy startups. This initiative is designed to drive sustainable economic development, promote innovation, mobilise private sector engagement, and create a supportive ecosystem for the green and circular economy transition.
- Developing a national "Circular Economy Taxonomy" - a classification system to help identify what activities are truly green and circular.
- Providing technical help to banks and financial institutions to better identify, assess, and fund green and circular economy projects, and to develop suitable financial products.
- Creating new ways to finance local circular economy projects in partnership with local government units and financial institutions.
- Mobilizing investments and speeding up the growth of high-potential green and circular economy startups.
