The need to address the impact of climate change made the current administration allot about PHP2.39 billion for the National Greening Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) this year.

In a statement on Wednesday, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the fund will help the government “achieve a sustainable, green and climate-resilient economy.”

Pangandaman said the fund will help the banner project of the DENR that will ensure “a massive forest rehabilitation initiative in pursuit of sustainable development for poverty alleviation, food security, biodiversity conservation, environmental stability and climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

The greening program covers a land area of 13,565 hectares and will require the planting of 7,249,642 seedlings and the maintenance of around 158,843 hectares of land.

“As mandated by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., we will remain committed to attaining inclusive and sustainable transformation toward a greener economy. But we cannot achieve this goal if we will neglect our environment. That’s why, in crafting our national budget, we also put a premium on environmental expenditures,” she said.

The current government has allocated PHP464.5 billion this year to fund programs that will help address climate change.

This allocation is 60.1 percent higher than the PHP289.7 billion budget in 2022, the DBM said.

“Kita naman po natin ngayon pa lamang, ramdam nating lahat ang epekto ng climate change, lalo na ang pagpasok ng El Niño. Kaya paulit-ulit din pong panawagan ng DBM sa bawat ahensya na maglaan sa kanilang budget proposal ng mga provision para sa pagtugon sa climate change (We can feel the impact of climate change this early, with the looming El Niño. That’s why DBM repeatedly calls on the various agencies to include in their budget proposals funding for climate change),” Pangandaman added. (PNA)