The Philippine department of energy (DOE) held a public consultation on 19 August 2025 to discuss draft guidelines for issuing, managing and monitoring carbon credits for the country's energy sector.
The consultation is part of the DOE's broader push to develop a carbon credit policy for the energy sector to create new opportunities for industry stakeholders, curb emissions, attract clean energy investment and advance national climate goals.
The policy aims to ensure environmental integrity by prioritising projects with verifiable emission cuts, enhance transparency in carbon credit generation and trading through clear rules, and drive private-sector participation in clean energy and decarbonisation efforts. The policy also aligns with Manila's commitments under the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rises to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to cap increases at 1.5°C.
The policy will "reshape the energy sector", DOE undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said. It will equip stakeholders with tools to generate and manage carbon credits with integrity and ensure every ton of CO2 reduced is verifiable. This will build trust and encourage investment in effective climate solutions, he added.
The Philippines and Singapore signed an initial agreement in August 2024 to collaborate on carbon credits, with a focus on backing the rollout of the Article 6.2 Implementation Agreement that is still being negotiated.
Singapore had already taken a key step in December 2023 by launching the Transition Credits Coalition (Traction), an initiative designed to leverage carbon credits for the early decommissioning of coal-fired power plants. Singaporean firm Keppel has since struck a deal with Philippine energy firm Acen and GenZero — a subsidiary of state-owned investment firm Temasek — to fast-track the retirement of the 246MW South Luzon coal-fired power plant in Batangas, the Philippines, using these transition credits.
