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MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday urged the public and private sectors to collaborate and help government craft more pro-environment policies.

Marcos said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) first Multistakeholder Forum was designed to “harmonize the policy agenda” of the agency so that the government could be “smarter, more responsible, more sustainable in all that we do.”

“Let us identify each sector’s unique and shared challenges and bolster cooperation,” the President said in his keynote address.

“I know it's only the beginning of the challenging but most important task of preserving our only Earth,” he said.

Marcos said holding environmental dialogues between the public and private sectors assures the public that the “we not only have the expertise but also the commitment, determination to steer our practices and systems towards a greener direction.”

“In this collective fight, we are not soldiers. We are stewards,” he said.

“Victory will come in certain moments when we will see that we are averting a global crisis,” he said.

Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said that the DENR is set to ink an agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to “accelerate the creation of green jobs in the forest sector where they are needed the most.”

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The Philippines is one of the most susceptible countries to hazards brought about by climate change.

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The Marcos administration has sought a bigger budget to address extreme weather. The President also said he would prioritize the use of renewable energy sources and recently urged developed economies to help in the fight against climate change.

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