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Pia Lee-Brago - The Philippine Star
December 22, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has launched a new initiative to align its trade policy with its climate and development goals, stressing that climate action must be fair and development-oriented to be effective and sustainable.
Speaking at the high-level roundtable on Trade, Climate and Sustainable Development in Geneva, Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla said trade, climate and development cannot be treated as separate tracks, particularly for a climate-vulnerable, middle-income country like the Philippines.
He emphasized that international discussions on trade-related climate measures must respect the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities under climate law, as well as special and differential treatment in trade law, to gain broad support among developing countries.
Lotilla pointed to the widening gap between rising expectations for climate ambition and the continued uncertainty in the delivery of climate finance, technology transfer and capacity building.
He cautioned against calls for the Philippines to simply announce higher numerical targets in its next nationally determined contribution (NDC 3.0) without credible means of implementation.
Energy and fiscal reforms, he said, have contributed to higher power rates compared with many regional peers, with consumers and firms bearing the costs of a de facto carbon price through market-based mechanisms, value-added tax treatment, and fuel excise taxes.
This reality, according to Lotilla, should be considered when assessing the country’s level of effort and the feasibility of increasing its future NDC commitments.
Permanent representative of the Philippines to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Manuel A.J. Teehankee placed the initiative within the country’s broader trade and climate engagement in Geneva.
“Trade policy, if designed well, can help the Philippines manage adjustment to new climate measures abroad, strengthen our own competitiveness and support a just energy transition at home,” Teehankee said.
The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the University of the Philippines Law Center Institute of International Legal Studies and the Forum on Trade, Environment and the Sustainable Development Goals.
It will involve a series of multi-stakeholder roundtables aimed at informing the development of a Philippine trade-related climate strategy for climate-resilient development by 2026, with inputs feeding into engagements at the WTO, ASEAN and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
