The Environment Department said Friday it allotted P12.4 billion this year to 19 specific programs on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
The DENR said the amount represented more than half of the P21.8-billion budget of the agency under the P3.002-trillion General Appropriations Act.
“More than half of the agency’s 2016 budget is allotted for programs that aim to further build the resilience of vulnerable communities and natural ecosystems against the devastating impact of climate change,” said Environment Secretary Ramon Paje.
Paje said the administration’s flagship reforestation program—the National Greening Program—has a total budget of P8 billion this year. The NGP is a massive forest rehabilitation program that started in 2011.
Paje said the NGP as of last year had so far covered 1.4 million hectares of open, degraded and denuded forests and planted some 915.3 million seedlings.
Other climate change programs getting a significant allocation were protected area development and management program, P1.063 billion; forest protection, P473 billion; and restoration of major river basins, P451 million.