Greenpeace Philippines warned that up to PHP 1.089 trillion in climate funds may have been lost to corruption since 2023, based on government data and Senate inquiry estimates.

The group said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) controlled 90 percent of climate-tagged projects in 2025, worth PHP 800 billion. Greenpeace calculated PHP 560 billion of this amount is vulnerable to corruption.

Flood-related projects alone accounted for PHP 248 billion in 2025. Using Senate corruption estimates of 51 to 70 percent, Greenpeace said PHP 173 billion from these projects could have been siphoned off.

“A trillion pesos is a staggering, absurd amount, siphoned by avaricious, self-serving officials and contractor corporations from projects meant to help people cope with escalating climate impacts,” said Greenpeace campaigner Jefferson Chua.

“This is unacceptable. They’re not just plundering government coffers, they’re also crippling the ability of millions of Filipinos to survive in the face of an escalating climate crisis,” he added. 

Between 2023 and 2025, Greenpeace estimated that between 34 and 57 percent of climate budgets may have been lost. Losses from flood control projects alone exceeded PHP 400 billion over the period.

“The corruption scandal puts Filipinos in a hopeless situation: not only is our climate financing woefully inadequate to avoid future losses, but also, more than half of what little allocation we have for climate action is potentially being stolen,” Chua said.

The Department of Finance earlier reported that climate-related hazards caused PHP 506 billion in damages from 2010 to 2020. From 2015 to 2022, nearly PHP 2 trillion was spent on disaster risk reduction and management.

Chua said reliance on loans and grants for climate adaptation deepens the crisis. “Given this filthy track record, what assurance does the Filipino people have that the money for climate adaptation won’t end up in the pockets of the greedy?”

Greenpeace also criticized the government’s reliance on “gray infrastructure” such as flood control projects. 

The group called instead for nature-based solutions, watershed protection, ending mining and reclamation, and a national ban on single-use plastics.

“Massive corruption on flood control projects at a time of climate change, worsened by the continued extraction and operation of fossil fuel companies in the name of profit, is piling one injustice over another onto Filipino communities,” Chua said.

The group urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to hold both corrupt officials and fossil fuel companies accountable. 

It said corporations must be compelled to stop extraction and pay reparations for climate losses and damages.

*All figures and estimates are from Greenpeace Philippines’ analysis of NICCDIES and Senate inquiry data, released September 2025.