THE lack of policy coherence and integration between effective climate change adaptation and biodiversity actions, weak science-policy linkage, and data generation in the environment and natural resource management are expected to be addressed in the two-day multi-stakeholder dialogue to be held starting January 18, 2023, until Thursday in Global City, Taguig.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said that the dialogue will address limited knowledge development and management and inadequate innovative financing mechanisms to support sustainable resource management.

The DENR and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) will hold a dialogue to come up with the final list of proposed projects under GEF-8.

The GEF National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue will gather around 200 representatives from the national government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), civil society organizations, the private sector, GEF secretariat, and implementing agencies to come up with a refined National Portfolio Formulation Document (NPFD) consisting of the final list of proposed projects for the Philippines.

The dialogue also aims to provide a venue for sharing progress and learnings on GEF project formulation and implementation; present national priorities and strategies; discuss inputs to the GEF-8 portfolio formulation, and gather advice and recommendation from the GEF Secretariat on the draft GEF-8 portfolio.

In the Philippines, the proposed projects for GEF-8 are divided based on five different focal areas, namely biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, chemical waste, and international waters.

In implementing projects, the DENR hopes to advance the country’s efforts to address environmental issues by tackling the drivers of ecological degradation and strengthening the country’s commitments to multilateral environmental agreements and contributing to global environmental benefits, supporting integrated approaches and ensuring that programs are inclusive and prioritizes the most vulnerable.

The projects are being eyed to help realign private sector capital to achieve wider scale and impact, empower local communities to harness their contributions, strengthen their capacities, protect their livelihoods, uplift their socio-economic conditions, and enhance resilience.

DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga and GEF CEO Carlos Manuel Rodriguez will deliver the welcome and keynote messages, respectively, for the kickoff ceremony.

This will be followed by the opening of an exhibit showcasing the various projects and accomplishments of the DENR-GEF partnership in the same venue.

The dialogue will also pave the way for discussions on National Priorities and Strategies and GEF-8 Strategic Positioning and Programming Directions.

Meanwhile, DENR Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh, GEF-Philippine Operational Focal Point, will be sharing the climate lens and the geospatial approach to portfolio programming and discussing the way forward to conclude the event.

Director Al. O. Orolfo, DENR-FASPS, on the other hand, will discuss the GEF Philippines Portfolio and share updates on ongoing and future projects. For his part, Conrado Bravante, Jr., chief of the Project Preparation Division of DENR-FASPS, will share highlights of GEF 4 and 5 National Evaluation.

On the second day, simultaneous breakout sessions will be held, after which a presentation and open discussion of the group outputs will be held during the Plenary Session.

Organizers of the event hope to come up with various recommendations to enhance the Philippine GEF 8 portfolio.

Since its pilot phase in 1992, the GEF has become one of the major driving forces supporting the country to achieve agreed global environmental benefits embodied in various international environmental agreements.

In the Philippines, 131 GEF-funded projects across different focal areas have been approved since the pilot phase up until its Seventh Replenishment Cycle (GEF-7).

In GEF-8, member countries will be encouraged to move more of their programming through 11 Integrated programs considering the 5 GEF focal area strategies that address the major environmental needs of the planet, namely Food Systems, Ecosystems Restoration, Clean and Healthy Ocean, Circular solution to Plastic Pollution, Elimination of Hazardous Chemicals from Supply Chains, Net-zero Accelerator, Sustainable Cities, Greening Transportation Infrastructure Development, and Wildlife Conservation for Development.