Conservation International’s, Germany’s TRANSCEND project to support the Philippines’ Delivery on National Climate and Biodiversity Commitments

Conservation International launches project funded by the Federal Republic of Germany through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) to assist the Philippines in raising and delivering their Paris Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework commitments through integrated adaptation, mitigation and biodiversity solutions

MANILA (May 22, 2025) – Conservation International is starting implementation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – the German Development Agency – of a five-year, US$36.8 million (€32.7 million) project to protect key biodiversity areas and restore natural carbon sinks in climate-vulnerable regions of the Philippines. 

Collaborating with local governments, Indigenous Peoples, and community organizations, Conservation International and partners are set to design and implement a multistakeholder management effort that will support national climate resilience and adaptation, and biodiversity conservation. 

“This effort provides practical approach to support the Philippines meet its Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement—both in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change,” said Wilson John Barbon, Country Director for Conservation International-Philippines. “At the same time, it supports the country’s commitments to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and set nature on a path to recovery by 2030.” 

Conservation International, alongside Rare, and the Foundation for the Philippine Environment, will lead biodiversity conservation and ecosystems management efforts working alongside local, provincial, and municipal leaders in three climate-vulnerable regions, Southern Luzon, Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao, in coordination with the Biodiversity Management Bureau and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. The selected regions are among the priority areas for climate and biodiversity interventions and will provide a model for the Philippines of how community-based conservation and planning, together with private sector investment, and smart policy at all levels of government, can protect nature for climate while benefitting local stakeholders. Conservation International will lead efforts on land, while Rare, and the Foundation for the Philippine Environment, will deliver the marine and fisheries work. 

Over time, the results of these local conservation and adaptation efforts will help inform national policies, contributing to the country’s international commitments to address climate change and biodiversity loss. 

This work is part of the broader TRANCEND (Transformative Actions for Climate and Ecological Protection and Development) initiative led by GIZ and funded by Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI), in partnership with the Republic of the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Climate Change Commission (CCC). TRANSCEND aims to contribute to a whole of society approach to support the Philippines’ transition towards a climate-resilient, low carbon, and pro-biodiversity development pathways through the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plan and Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2015-2028. 

“The TRANSCEND project is built on a powerful idea to strengthen collaboration across all Filipino stakeholders, to better protect nature, support climate resilience, and create green jobs. Under TRANSCEND, our project aims to improve decision-making, attract investment, and encourage broad stakeholder collaboration, that supports the Philippines to move toward a climate-resilient, low carbon, and pro-biodiversity development pathways.” said Barbon. 

###