DOE creates carbon credits task force

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) has institutionalized a dedicated task force to oversee and ensure the effective implementation of the government’s carbon credit policies.

Under a department order signed on June 18, the Task Force on Energy Carbon Credits (TFECC) was formally created following the establishment of the regulatory framework governing carbon credits within the energy sector.

The TFECC will be chaired by the DOE undersecretary overseeing the Energy Policy and Planning Bureau, with the assistant secretary and EPPB director serving as vice chairpersons.

Members will include representatives from key DOE bureaus involved in energy policy, electric power, renewable energy (RE), resource development, energy utilization and the oil industry.

As the DOE’s designated representatives in inter-agency engagements, the chairperson and vice chairpersons will lead discussions on carbon markets, climate policy initiatives and international carbon transfer mechanisms.

They will also provide strategic direction for the country’s energy carbon credit program and approve policies, guidelines, methodologies and implementing rules developed by the TFECC.

The creation of the TFECC is pursuant to Section 14 of DC2025-09-0018 issued by the DOE in September 2025, which sets forth the general guidelines for the monitoring of carbon credits in the energy sector.

It is likewise aligned with Section 3 of Executive Order 174 signed in 2014, which institutionalizes the Philippine greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory management and reporting system.

In April 2016, the Philippines, along with 174 countries, signed the Paris Agreement, an international treaty adopted during the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

While it has yet to declare a net-zero target, the Philippines has committed to reducing GHG emissions by 75 percent by 2030 under its nationally determined contribution.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the Paris Agreement presents significant opportunities for the Philippines to access global financing, advanced technologies and capacity-building support through the generation, authorization and transfer of carbon credits.

The Philippines has established a framework that sets clear criteria for determining the eligibility of mitigation activities, projects and programs designed to generate and receive carbon credit certificates (CCCs).

Eligible initiatives include the voluntary early retirement of coal-fired power plants, the expansion of RE projects, the adoption of energy-efficient technologies, increased biofuel blending and the transition to electric vehicles.

A CCC, as defined by the DOE, is a tradeable certificate that represents one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent to GHG emissions reduced or removed from the atmosphere. Such certificates can be traded or used in international and domestic compliance markets, as well as in the voluntary carbon market.