The BIOFIN Financing Plan for the Philippines is based on insights gleaned from the results of the three BIOFIN workbooks: the Policy and Institutional Review; the Public and Private Biodiversity Expenditure Review; and the Finance Needs Assessment Plan. This plan acknowledges the importance of tapping additional financing to support NBSAP but is also cognisant of the parallel challenges that could not be addressed by generating financing alone . Thus, the Plan transcends the focus on generating additional resources but instead, identifies a range of "finance solutions" that leverage finance, fiscal and economic tools and strategies to improve the outcome of biodiversity objectives in the country. Financing solutions include a range of transformative actions that include generating more financing to fund the NBSAP or associated planning documents; appropriate attribution of biodiversity expenditures in the budget; attaining cost effective budget execution by eradicating overlaps in biodiversity function s; eradicating expenditures that continue to or aggravate dissipation of biodiversity resources; and paving the groundwork for a responsive policy environment through greater awareness on biodiversity and biodiversity financing and enhancing institutional support towards monitoring of NBSAP.
More than PHP 5 billion is targeted to be raised by BIOFIN within the six year medium term planning period conforming to the incoming administration of presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte. PHP 3 billion is to be sourced from increased public sector budget either through debt swaps, conservation incentives/ecological fiscal transfers, or through the flotation of a Sovereign Green Bond. Another 1.2 billion is to be tapped by working with local governments, civil society organisations and state universities and colleges to prepare and submit proposals eligible for funding under two earmarked funds: Energy Regulation 1-94 and the People's Survival Fund. Through realignment of expenditures within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, another PHP 0.5 billion pesos would be tagged as contributing to biodiversity with the entire effort of tagging resulting to better understanding of the pervasiveness of biodiversity in the agenda of the department. Lastly, traditional ODA sources shall be tapped amounting to PHP 0.6 billion, based on the historical uptake of grants.
Each financing solution is translated into a work program for BIOFIN that shall serve as guidance for implementation of Component 4 from hereon till end of 2017. In conclusion, the "call to action " invokes an area of work on financing solutions that "deliver better" and "avoid future expenditures" and recommends for the BIOFIN method to be applied in preparing for these next batch of financing solutions.
