SPENDING on environmental protection declined 8.1% in 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.
The PSA’s Compendium of Philippine Environment Statistics (CPES) Component 6 indicated that annual government environmental protection expenditures fell to P21.89 billion in 2023 from P23.83 billion a year earlier.
Adopted from the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics 2013, the CPES is a compilation of statistical data gathered from various government agencies.
Spending for the protection of biodiversity and landscape declined by 8.6% last year to P8.72 billion. This accounted for 39.8% of the total expenditure for environmental protection.
This was followed by spending on environmental protection not elsewhere classified with P6.54 billion in 2023, accounting for 29.9% of total expenditure.
Waste management spending amounted to P3.04 billion last year, or 13.9% of the total expenditure. The allocation for this subsector was down 17%.
Pollution abatement outlays amounted to P2.75 billion, while spending on research and development was P840 million. These accounted for 12.6% and 3.9% of the total environmental expenditure.
No information was available for the wastewater management sector in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources Financing, the PSA noted. — Abigail Marie P. Yraola
