The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it welcomes a new law promoting the creation of green jobs as it will benefit businesses through tax incentives.
Republic Act (RA) 10771, or the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016, was signed into law by President Aquino on April 29. It grants businesses special tax deductions from their taxable income and duty-free importation of capital equipment on top of the fiscal and nonfiscal incentives to help generate “green jobs.”
“The new law will not diminish or limit the incentives granted by prevailing laws, like the Philippine Clean Water Act, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and the Philippine Clean Air Act,” Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje said.
RA 10771 defines green jobs as employment that contributes to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment, be it in the agriculture industry or services sector.
It includes those that help protect the ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy, material and water consumption through high-efficiency strategies, decarbonize the economy and minimize or avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution.
More important, Paje said RA 10771 will contribute substantially to preserving the quality of the environment.
“This law will shore up support to our commitment to the Paris Agreement to work with the United Nations and other countries against global warming,” he said.
“It cements our pledge to pursue policies that would make communities climate-change adaptive and resilient,” Paje added.
The Paris agreement is the new global climate accord dealing with greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020. It was negotiated and adopted by representatives of over 190 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015.
The agreement was opened for signature on April 22, Earth Day, and has so far been signed by 177 countries, including the Philippines. President Aquino had designated Paje to sign the Paris deal for and on behalf of the Philippines at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
According to Paje, RA 10771 is expected to “propel the delivery of the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution to reduce by 70 percent our GHG by 2030 compared to 2000, which will come from the waste-management sector.”
“In the long term, this will greatly benefit countries, like the Philippines, which are most vulnerable to climate change,” he added.