Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga on Monday said she and United Nations Women Philippines Country Programme Coordinator Ma. Rosalyn Mesina has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen gender equality and increase women's participation in environmental protection and climate resilience.

Loyzaga said the MOU on gender equality and women's participation in environmental protection and climate resilience would be the main agenda of the partnership between the DENR and the UN Women for the "EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies Programme Phase II".

Mesina, on behalf of Maria Holtsberg, Deputy Regional Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, was with Loyzaga at the MOU signing during the 2024 Earth Day celebration in Pasay City on 22 April.

"We do need to invest both in the transdisciplinary understanding of vulnerability, particularly gender-based vulnerability and the multiple roles that women play in order for us to understand how risk may cascade through those roles and address the vulnerability once and for all," Loyzaga said.

The Secretary has also stated that it is crucial to safeguard the rights of women in crafting environmental policies, social development, and decision-making through their inclusion in the national and local level discourse on mining, climate, human security, and the environment.

The EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies Programme Phase II seeks to increase the role of women and other marginalized groups on gender-responsive climate change adaptation and mitigation, ensure that women and other marginalized groups are represented as key environmental actors in climate and disaster risk reduction (DRR) decision making and that they are engaged in climate resilient livelihood.

The program, which shall also be implemented in Indonesia, shall give people greater gender equality and full enjoyment of their rights, including equal access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, reducing their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.

Under the MOU, the DENR and UN Women aim to promote gender-responsive and human rights-based climate action that is inclusive in accordance with the central pledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to "leave no one behind," and that accelerates progress on the achievement of Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 5 on Gender Equality, SDG 7 on Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 13 on Climate Action, and SDG 17 on Partnerships for the Goals.

Both parties have agreed to support the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 in its goal to create jobs and reduce poverty through higher economic growth.

This shall result in economic and social transformation for a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient society, in line with the 8-point socioeconomic agenda of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and the achievement of AmBisyon Natin 2040, the country's long-term vision.

The parties will also contribute to the targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2024-2028, signed between the UN and the Philippines, across the three outcome areas: outcome 1, human capital development, inclusion and resilience building; outcome 2, sustainable economic development, decent work, and innovation; and outcome 3, climate action, environmental sustainability, and disaster-resilience.

The DENR and UN Women will also contribute to the delivery of UN Women's country program priorities across the thematic areas of women's participation, representation, and leadership in decision-making, gender-responsive humanitarian, DRR and climate action, women's economic empowerment, and ending violence against women.

The EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies Programme Phase II will be funded by the Governments of Sweden and New Zealand and will run until 2027.