Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga has expressed the Philippines’ gratitude for the United Kingdom’s support through its Blue Planet Fund (BPF), underscoring efforts to protect and develop the country’s blue economy.

UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs David Lammy met with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and other Philippine officials during his visit on 8 March, resulting in a joint framework agreement aimed at strengthening cooperation in various areas, including climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and defense.

Secretary Loyzaga thanked the UK and other development partners in promoting regional and global stability, as well as long-term peace and prosperity. “Although we may be small in terms of land mass, both the Philippines and the UK are large ocean nations with some of the longest coastlines in the world,” she remarked. The Philippines and the UK share the characteristics of being small, blue, archipelagic nations with vast ocean territories. For the Philippines, the development of the blue economy has enormous potential, as 86% of its territory is water.

During the Blue Horizon: Accelerating UK-Philippines Blue Economy Partnership panel discussion, Secretary Loyzaga and Secretary Lammy emphasized their countries’ shared values and commitment to the inclusive, sustainable economic development of ocean resources, while upholding a rules-based international order and safeguarding critical ecosystems. Both the UK and the Philippines rely on the health and biodiversity of their seas and waterways for food, livelihoods and security.

Funded by the UK’s Blue Planet Fund, initiatives in the Philippines focus on climate adaptation, combatting plastic pollution, and protecting crucial marine ecosystems. Among the programs supported are efforts to improve management of marine protected areas in the Verde Island Passage, the Calamianes Islands in Palawan, and the Tañon Strait between Negros and Cebu. Ecotourism, blue carbon measures, and fishery improvement activities are part of these plans to reduce coral reef degradation and promote sustainable livelihoods.

Secretary Loyzaga highlighted two out of eight significant programs supported by the BPF. The first program centers on enhancing sustainable livelihoods by improving the management of marine protected areas in the Verde Island Passage, the Calamianes Islands in Palawan, and the Tañon Strait between Negros and Cebu.

The BPF’s Global Fund for Coral Reefs supports these initiatives involving ecotourism, community-based aquaculture, blue carbon, and fishery improvement projects. These efforts aim to mitigate coral reef degradation while alleviating poverty and generating long-term income for communities within these protected areas.

The second program, supported by the BPF, is the Philippines’ National Blue Carbon Action Plan (NBCAP), launched on February 26. The NBCAP outlines the Philippine government's strategy for managing blue carbon ecosystems. Secretary Loyzaga emphasized the critical role of restoring mangrove forests, which have been lost to fishponds and brackish water fisheries since the 1950s.

“We need to accelerate the planting of the right species in the right areas and increase protection of our remaining mangrove stands,” she noted in her keynote address.

Secretary Loyzaga also stressed that conservation and protection are integral to the country’s economic development strategy, stating that these priorities are not afterthoughts or secondary concerns.

“The Philippines is committed to increasing investments in better mechanisms to observe, conserve, and protect our ocean environments,” she said. In 2020, the Philippines joined the Global Ocean Alliance (GOA), an initiative launched by the UK to unite countries and organizations committed to achieving the 30x30 target set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This target aims to protect 30% of the world’s land and marine areas by 2030 to prevent biodiversity loss and address the climate crisis.