The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has deployed a team of climate change experts to the Philippines to strengthen the country’s capacity to respond to the climate crisis, the agency said in a news release.
The JICA team is composed of specialists in climate mitigation and adaptation, greenhouse gas accounting, risk assessment, climate finance, and capacity building.
The group is led by Yoshihiro Mizuno, with sub-team leader Shigezane Kidoura, technical expert Tetsuya Yoshida, and project coordinator Mari Yasuda. They will work alongside Climate Change Commission (CCC) officials to craft solutions that balance international best practices with the Philippine context.
Over the next two years, the initiative, formally called the Climate Change Advisor in the Philippines, will focus on two key areas: boosting the CCC’s institutional and technical capabilities, and developing a stronger Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system to track the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement.
The first group of JICA experts has begun work by finalizing the cooperation activity’s plan in close coordination with CCC leaders and senior officials. Together, they will assess current systems, identify gaps, and co-develop strategies to improve organizational structures and climate monitoring processes.
Training workshops and knowledge exchange activities are also part of the program to ensure that reforms are embedded in day-to-day operations.
The collaboration also extends to academic development. Through JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Program, CCC Legal Services Division Chief Atty. Carlos M. Borja Jr. will pursue a master’s degree at Kyushu University in Japan from 2025–2027, focusing on refining the Philippines’ Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and strengthening climate governance. He is the first Filipino to join JICA’s Climate Change Policy track.
This cooperation complements JICA’s broader climate initiatives in the Philippines, which include the Climate Change Action Program with the Department of Finance, a hydropower resource inventory with the Department of Energy, and planned projects with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on sustainability and forest monitoring.
With the Philippines among the world’s most vulnerable nations to climate change, both JICA and CCC underscored that stronger systems and institutions are vital to meeting the country’s climate commitments and protecting its communities.
