President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has issued Executive Order No. 127, directing the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to formulate the Philippine Carbon Market Policy Framework within 30 days.
Signed on Oct. 13, the order designates the DENR as the national authority for carbon markets, tasking it with approving carbon mitigation projects and establishing the centralized Philippine National Carbon Registry.
To guide policy coordination, EO 127 creates the Inter-Agency Committee on Carbon Markets (IACCM), chaired by the Climate Change Commission (CCC) with the Department of Finance (DOF) as vice-chairperson. The IACCM will evaluate the DENR’s framework, set administrative fees, and oversee policy alignment across sector-specific agencies (DENR, DOE, DA, PSA, and DOTr). Any measures involving carbon pricing or fiscal policy require mandatory concurrence from the DOF.
Anchored in commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and the National Climate Change Action Plan 2011–2028, the executive order positions carbon trading as a vital financing vehicle to secure climate finance, technology transfer, investments, and capacity-building support. Initial implementation costs will be covered by the existing appropriations of participating agencies, with future funding integrated into their standard annual budget proposals.
