Multi-level climate governance in the Philippines

The effects of climate change have been disastrous for the Philippines in recent years. Acknowledging its vulnerability, the Philippine government has created a complex national climate governance architecture. It was one of the very first countries to enact a comprehensive national climate change law (in 2009) and created a central Climate Change Commission to coordinate climate policy and action.

The impacts of climate change are an enormous challenge, most notably to the local and regional governments of the Philippines. They are presently grappling with how to translate national polices into local mitigation and adaptation actions. Coordinating these efforts and ensuring their coherence within a multi-level governance system is key to driving forward effective, efficient and ambitious climate actions.

This study summarises the important progress the Philippines has made in developing its policy and institutional architecture in response to climate change. The authors analyse this through the lens of multi-level governance and multi-stakeholder climate action. The study is written for both policy makers and development practitioners working in the Philippines and is based on the four-year project known as V-LED, or Vertical Integration and Learning for Low-Emission Development in Africa and Southeast Asia.

From 2015 through 2018, V-LED aimed to stimulate local climate action by rallying ambition and connecting national institutions, local governing units, communities and businesses. Based on experience gained from this project and additional research, the study analyses climate governance in practice, highlighting encouraging practices and continuing challenges of effective multi-level climate governance.

Further reports of the same project

• Multi-level climate governance in Kenya
• Multi-level climate governance in South Africa
• Multi-level climate governance in Vietnam