The Green Finance Institute (GFI) has released a new report aimed at unlocking private capital for the country’s climate goals, in collaboration with the Department of Finance (DOF), Climate Change Commission (CCC), and UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Titled Mobilising Climate Finance into the Philippines, the report identifies key investment barriers and proposes innovative financial mechanisms to scale private investment in the country’s underfunded transport and waste sectors—critical to delivering on its Nationally Determined Contributions Implementation Plan (NDCIP).
The Philippines requires an estimated US$72 billion to meet its climate targets across five sectors, but only 2.7 percent of that is currently committed through public finance. Despite growing interest in renewable energy, sectors like zero-carbon transport and circular economy remain significantly underfinanced, with just 22 percent and 28 percent of banks supporting them, respectively.
The GFI research highlights major gaps in green bond allocations, with solid waste and mass transport still largely untapped. From 2014 to 2023, 35 percent of green bond proceeds in Asia-Pacific went to energy projects, while investment in transport and waste lagged far behind.
The report, launched during a validation event in May 2025, brings together policymakers, investors, and development partners to advance solutions, including the evolution of the “Green Force”—an inter-agency sustainable finance task force—into a national investment platform.
Transport accounts for 23 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion, with jeepneys alone contributing over 15 percent. Yet only 4 percent of the targeted jeepney fleet had been modernised by end-2023, and EV infrastructure remains sparse.
Meanwhile, the waste sector generates 13 percent of emissions and produces over 18 million tons of municipal waste annually, with plastic recycling rates as low as 9npercent. An estimated US$790–US$890 million in plastic value is lost each year due to inefficiencies.
James Hooton, GFI’s managing director for International, called the Philippines a “strong but underexplored opportunity” for green investment, particularly in transport and waste. UK climate counselor Lloyd Cameron added that climate risks must be seen as “catalysts for innovation,” aligning financial flows with national resilience and decarbonisation goals.
The DOF emphasised that identifying investment barriers is key to turning the country’s climate ambition into bankable opportunities, reaffirming its commitment to work with partners to scale private-sector participation through the Green Force.
