The economic dynamism of the Philippines has created significant gains in poverty reduction, with poverty rates dropping by over 50% in the last decades. The rapid growth of the middle class and domestic consumption in the Philippines, however have contributed towards significant levels of waste which the country is unable to manage.

Already one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world, the Philippines seeks to secure its long-term socio-economic outlook by integrating more inclusive and sustainable models of development. To this end, the Philippines has recognized the importance of transitioning towards a circular economy, aiming to minimize waste, promote resource efficiency, and create a closed-loop system where resources are reused, recycled, or regenerated.

The circular economy approach involves the following facets:

·         Reducing waste generation: Implementing waste management strategies such as recycling, composting, and waste reduction measures to minimize the amount of waste produced.

·         Promoting resource efficiency: Encouraging the efficient use of resources through sustainable production and consumption practices, as well as adopting technologies and processes that optimize resource utilization.

·         Encouraging circular business models: Supporting and promoting businesses that adopt circular principles, such as product redesign, remanufacturing, repair, and sharing economy models.

·         Enhancing recycling and waste management infrastructure: Improving recycling facilities, waste segregation systems, and promoting proper waste disposal practices to facilitate the recycling and recovery of valuable resources.

·         Fostering collaboration and partnerships: Encouraging collaboration between government agencies, private sector stakeholders, academia, and civil society to drive innovation, knowledge-sharing, and collective action towards a circular economy.

By transitioning to a circular economy, the Philippines aims to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, reduce environmental impacts, create new economic opportunities, and improve the well-being of its people while preserving and restoring the country's natural resources.

The project

The purpose of the Green Economy Programme is to support the Philippines’ transition towards a green economy, including circular economy, reducing waste and plastic, as well as to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment to support climate change mitigation.

 The action tackles three main levels:

(i)            Establishing a Policy Dialogue Platform at central government level to facilitate policy formulation, improve city to city collaboration through supporting the development of a National Circular Economy Strategy and Roadmap, extend dialogue to promote renewable energy/energy efficiency and to apply the dialogue’s outcomes (linked to Specific Objective 1 of the action);

(ii)           Working with Local government units (LGUs) to define and implement circular economy, climate change and energy policies with a human rights and gender - responsive perspective, including outreach and support of local business and civil society (linked to Specific Objective 2 of the action);

(iii)          Enhancing engagement of the private and financial sectors into the circular waste economy creating better conditions for private sector investment by supporting business driven waste reduction strategies and circular solutions in the production process (linked to Specific Objective 3 of the action).

The intervention of Expertise France targets Specific Objective 3.

Place of implementation

The programme will be implemented from the Expertise France office in Manila. Travel may be expected on an ad hoc basis to oversee pilot projects implemented in non- Metro Manila areas.

The team

The steering and coordination team, based in Manila, will be responsible for overseeing the activities delegated to Expertise France. Their responsibilities include (i) defining and implementing the intervention strategy, (ii) building and managing the project team, including short-term expertise, (iii) implementing the communication and visibility strategy, as well as the monitoring and evaluation system, and (iv) handling the project's administrative and financial management.

This team will be composed of (indicatively): a project manager, a deputy project manager, an M&E officer, a communication officer, an executive project assistant (subject of the call for applications), an administrative and financial manager, a senior grants officer, a junior grants officer, and long-term technical experts. These technical experts will support the team leader in defining and implementing project activities and will cover various thematic areas, including green economy and green financing, public-private-partnerships in waste management, gender, etc.

The project team will also be supported by a project officer based at the Expertise France headquarters in Paris. Weekly exchanges will take place between the headquarters and the office in Manila.