CCC underscores role of energy efficiency in PHL mitigation strategy

MAKATI CITY, 30 May 2019 – The Climate Change Commission (CCC) pushed for energy efficiency as a key climate change mitigation strategy, alongside renewable energy, especially amid the fact that the energy sector has consistently accounted for a significant percentage of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
In his keynote speech at the CEO Forum on Financing Government Energy Efficiency Projects held recently in Makati City, CCC Secretary Emmanuel M. De Guzman said, “Energy efficiency is the easiest and often cheapest way to reduce the need for expansion of power generation. And with the country’s energy demand projected to increase by 80% between 2017 and 2040, improving energy efficiency in the building sector would be our best course to reduce emissions.”
Secretary De Guzman said that energy efficiency and renewable energy offer the highest mitigation opportunity for the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution to reduce by 70% its GHG emissions by 2030, as it committed under the Paris Agreement.
The forum was attended by business leaders, government officials, and civil society, and was organized by the European Union-supported Access to Sustainable Energy Programme and the Department of Energy. The event hopes to facilitate discussions on key issues and challenges in implementing energy efficiency projects.
During the forum, Secretary De Guzman congratulated PE2 president Alexander Ablaza for the recent passage of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act.
The CCC is the lead policy-making body of the government in coordinating, monitoring and evaluating government programs and ensuring mainstreaming of climate change in national, local, and sectoral development plans towards a climate-resilient and climate-smart Philippines.