Philippine president orders a national carbon market framework
The plan covers voluntary credits and trading between countries under the Paris Agreement, but civil society groups question what it adds to climate ambition.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of a national carbon market framework meant to attract climate investment and support domestic emissions cuts, Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez reported Monday for Eco-Business.
The executive order, signed Oct. 13 and announced Oct. 17 by the Presidential Communications Office, directs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to write rules for taking part in domestic and international carbon markets. It covers voluntary carbon credits as well as credits traded between countries under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and it splits oversight among the environment, energy, agriculture, transportation and finance departments.
Jonathan Joson, Philippine operations head at Singapore-based Kennemer Eco Solutions, said the multi-agency approach should give investors more regulatory certainty. "I am more confident that this executive order resolves the fragmentation," he said. Joson had warned that carbon credit rules released last year, which covered only clean energy projects, could steer money away from nature-based solutions, agriculture and blue carbon.
John Leo Algo, national coordinator of the civil society network Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, said the framework could be finished by the 31st United Nations climate summit (COP31) or early 2027, but that its contribution was uncertain. He said the country's updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), its climate plan under the Paris Agreement, "is missing a 1.5°C-aligned decarbonisation pathway," and called for consultations with communities whose land may host carbon projects.
The order follows an Article 6 agreement the Philippines signed with Singapore in May. Vietnam and Thailand signed similar deals with Singapore last year.
This brief is based on an article published Oct. 19, 2026, by Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez on Eco-Business. Read the original: https://www.eco-business.com/news/philippine-president-orders-creation-of-carbon-market-framework/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
