Policy Issue
Under the present administration, the creation of green jobs was identified as one of the key socio-economic priorities in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, which serves as the country’s overall economic blueprint. This comes in cognizance of the country’s vulnerability to climate change and other natural-induced disasters, technological advancements, economic transformations, and other man-made disruptions and the urgent need to address their dire impact on the environment, economy, and human lives.
Pursuant to the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016 (Republic Act No. 10771), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has been tasked, in coordination with other government agencies, with formulating a National Green Jobs Human Resource Development (NGJ HRD) Plan for the development, enhancement, and utilization of the labor force, both in the private and public sectors.
The NGJ HRD Plan’s objectives include the following: (i) to enable and sustain the transition into a green economy; (ii) to serve as a pathfinder in generating green jobs toward more employment and equal opportunities; and (iii) to promote social justice and workers’ welfare. Among other components, the updated NGJ HRD Plan shall contain (i) data on labor supply and key employment generators; (ii) linking green job opportunities with private and public entities; (iii) situation and gap analysis; (iv) information on skill requirements of a green economy; and (v) programs, projects, activities, and various policies of other implementing agencies of the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016.
To be inclusive, sustainability transitions require a strong interaction between labor markets and skills development since skills are imperative for harnessing green jobs potential and ensuring decent work during the transition. In 2020, the DOLE released the NGJ HRD Plan 2020-2030, which featured the Philippine labor situation, challenges, and current initiatives in the promotion of green jobs across various sectors, and, most importantly, the strategic action plan to promote green jobs in this critical decade of climate action. With the recent developments in both international and domestic policy related to green jobs and just transition and with the perceived gaps in fully operationalizing the current plan, the updating of the NGJ HRD Plan 2020-2030 is urgently needed to provide direction to the promotion and creation of green jobs in the Philippines.