MANILA, Philippines, (7 April 2025). The European Union Green Economy Programme in the Philippines is launching a call for projects that aims to strengthen the potential of eco-businesses across the Philippines and address gaps in the circular and green economy business ecosystem.
Implemented under the EU Green Economy Programme in the Philippines by Expertise France together with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Science and Technology, the grant “Green Up to Scale Up” is one of several initiatives to make the Philippine economy cleaner and more sustainable.
The “Green Up to Scale Up” initiative will provide grants of between EUR 200,000 and 500,000 (PHP 12-31 million), for a total of EUR 1.5 million (PHP 93 million). The grants target organisations that help up-and-coming entrepreneurs to develop successful businesses (“startup enablers”). The first phase of the application period will run until 2 May 2025.
In addition to receiving funding, grantees will be able to benefit from technical assistance, making sure that they are well-equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to help green businesses innovate.
“The Green Economy partnership is a unique programme under the EU Global Gateway strategy to mobilize sustainable investments. The “Green Up to Scale Up” grant initiative is an important milestone in this partnership, and we hope that it will promote business innovations towards a greener and climate-smart economy in the Philippines”, said Massimo Santoro, Ambassador of the European Union to the Philippines.
“We invite all startup enablers that are involved in circular and green businesses to apply for the grant. We have co-designed the programme with key ecosystem actors and stakeholders, so this grant is a hundred percent for them”, said Marie-Maylis Charlat, Project Leader of the EU-PH Green Economy Partnership’s component on Green Business, Infrastructure, and Finance.
For more information and applications, visit https://bit.ly/GreenUp2ScaleUp. For any queries or questions, please contact Expertise France Senior Grants officer Athea Menguito at athea.menguito@expertisefrance.fr.
Background information
Funded by a 60 million euro (₱3.67 billion) grant from the European Union, the EU-PH Green Economy Partnership is a programme under the EU Global Gateway initiative that runs from 2023-2028 in collaboration with the national government, local government units (LGUs), and the private sector. The Programme links European and Filipino partners to foster a circular economy and the reduction of plastic waste. It also aims to improve energy efficiency, promote renewable energy use and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Using a whole-of-nation approach, the programme is focused on sustainable and inclusive growth through technology transfers, investments and job creation.
The programme is implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as the overall lead agency, in partnership with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Department of Energy. The government agencies are supported by the technical partners, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Germany's development agency GIZ, Expertise France with Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – a member of the World Bank Group. The programme is aligned with global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate change policies, including the negotiations on the Global Plastic Treaty. The EU-PH Green Economy Partnership will mobilise over 466 million euros (₱29 billion) co-funded by the EU and some of its Member States in support of green transition programmes and instruments in the Philippines, from development finance to inclusive circular economy projects.
Expertise France, the French technical cooperation agency which is part of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) group, leads the Green Economy Partnership’s Strategic Objective Three: Green Business, Infrastructure, and Finance, which involves interventions supporting the emergence of eco startups and the establishment of green public-private partnerships, the integration of the informal waste sector in solid waste management, and building the interest of the finance sector to invest in high-potential green businesses.
Together with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Science and Technology, Expertise France launched the grant “Green Up to Scale Up” to propel the creation and sustain the growth of innovative circular and green private sector startup initiatives, contributing to the Green Economy Partnership’s overall goal of accelerating the just transition to a greener and climate-smart Philippine economy through a whole-of-system approach in the reduction of waste across all sectors.
The initiative is the product of a series of consultations and co-designing sessions with entrepreneurs, incubators, accelerators, regional and national government officials, and other key actors. These sessions ensured that the programme’s design will cater specifically to the prevailing and underlying roadblocks in the green business ecosystem, and make sure that the support to be provided is tailor-fit to the needs of the ecosystem’s startup enablers.