JICA experts to support advancing of PH’s climate action agenda

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has strengthened its partnership with the Climate Change Commission (CCC) by dispatching a team of climate change experts to work alongside Filipino counterparts. This initiative called Climate Change Advisor in the Philippines, marks a stronger commitment by both countries to collaborate on advancing the Philippines’ climate action agenda.

Over the next two years, the technical cooperation will have a two-pronged focus: enhancing the CCC’s institutional and technical capacity, and jointly developing a strengthened Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system for tracking the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. The first dispatch is dedicated to finalizing the cooperation activity’s work plan, which was developed in close consultation with CCC output leaders and senior officials.

As part of the collaboration, CCC representatives and JICA experts will jointly assess current systems, identify areas for improvement, and co-develop strategies to strengthen organizational structures and climate monitoring processes. The approach includes knowledge exchange and shared training activities and workshops aimed at embedding these improvements in day-to-day operations.

The expert team from JICA brings international perspectives and technical depth in MRV systems, climate change mitigation and adaptation, climate risk assessment, greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, climate finance, and capacity building, among others. Led by team leader for institutional development MIZUNO Yoshihiro, the team includes MRV and sub-team leader KIDOURA Shigezane, MRV and institutional development YOSHIDA Tetsuya, and institutional development and project coordinator YASUDA Mari. Together with CCC leaders and technical staff, they will draw on both global experience and local knowledge to create solutions that are practical, forward-looking, and grounded in the Philippine context.

As part of this initiative, JICA also backed CCC Legal Services Division Chief Atty. Carlos M. Borja, Jr. in pursuing a Master Program in Comparative Studies of Politics and Administration in Asia at the Kyushu University in Japan from 2025-2027. He is the first CCC representative and the first Filipino to join JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP) Climate Change Policy track. His research on refining the Philippines’ NDC and strengthening climate governance is expected to further reinforce the CCC’s capabilities upon his return.

This technical cooperation complements JICA’s broader climate work in the Philippines, including its Climate Change Action Program with the Department of Finance (DOF) and hydropower resource inventory with the Department of Energy (DOE). Other pipeline climate activities of JICA in the Philippines are on strengthening sustainability with DOF and forest monitoring with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Across these efforts, JICA and its partners share a commitment to building systems and institutions that can meet the challenges of climate change.