The European Union has received a glimpse of the Philippines' plans in addressing climate change, as well as promoting a sustainable economy, amid uncertainties occurring in various economies.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual flew to Brussels, Belgium last week to attend the first-panel session of the European Union Sustainable Investment Summit, the European Commission's annual event on sustainable investment, bringing together energy sector players to discuss key challenges related to energy, climate change, and transition.

During his talk, Pascual maintained that regulations are not enough to curb carbon emissions, as well as promote a sustainable economy.

"We have seen other situations in the past wherein regulations ended up in a back-sticking exercise to measure compliance, but what we need to see is performance. For performance to happen, we need to inject innovation that will drive performance toward greater heights," he said.

"Regulations are important, but they should not stop there. We need to go from compliance to performance, and that's where research and development come in," Pascual added.

The DTI secretary has emphasized that his tenure at the DTI will focus on innovation, as the country needs inclusive and sustainable industrial development which is imperative to build a more competitive economy.

He said this "dream" is attainable through science, technology, and innovation and the use of essential digital technologies so that industries will be better positioned to transform and face competition in domestic and export markets, which would also result in quality jobs and economic opportunities for Filipinos.

Earlier, Pascual wooed Norway to further collaborate with the Philippines in areas such as the energy sector, extractive industries like oil, gas, mining, petroleum, aquaculture, IT services, telecommunications, academic exchanges, social security, labor, and migration.

"In our efforts to further harness these opportunities, the Philippines seeks to maximize the full potential of the free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association, composed of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland," he said during the Norway-Philippines Energy Conference last 18 October.