ENVIRONMENT Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga underscored the need for more investments to address biodiversity and climate change challenges at the 15th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Montreal, Canada.Yulo-Loyzaga highlighted the need to shore up biodiversity investments to establish the adaptive management and capacity of regions and communities.'More investments in science-informed mainstreaming are needed to build adaptive management at the subnational down to the community level,' she said.The Department of Environment and Natural Resources chief represented President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the summit.Yulo-Loyzaga reported the steps being undertaken by the Philippine government to address biodiversity and climate change challenges when she participated in the High-Level Panel on Financing Delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework upon the invitation of the United Kingdom.She said the Philippines has begun to align its official development assistance (ODA) with strategic goals such as extending support to the 10-Point Agenda for Financing Biodiversity and the High Ambition Coalition.'These aim to address the complex and interrelated linkages between biodiversity, climate change, and inclusive, equitable, and resilient development,' Yulo-Loyzaga said. In addition to the country's international environmental commitments, the official said the Philippine government has partnered with the One Planet Initiative to explore the potential development of a biodiversity credits market in the country.As part of its initiatives, the Philippines, through the Department of Finance (DoF) has built a Sustainable Finance Ecosystem, which gained strong support from the United Kingdom.'The framework has enabled collaboration among the DoF, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the private sector in investing in enterprise risk management, ESG reporting, and the issuance of government and private green bonds,' she added. Yulo-Loyzaga announced that the Philippines has started establishing a national natural resource geospatial database and a natural capital accounting system which will aid in the prioritization of investments and actions.The country has also instituted a climate change tagging system in its national budget and crafted legislation on the protection of forests, wetlands, caves, mangroves, and reefs.'We have adopted a whole of society and systemic risk-based approach where multilateral development banks and the private sector have a key role in achieving sustainable development, nature-based solutions and climate action, and the valuation of ecosystem services,' Yulo-Loyzaga said.