The Philippines’ Department of Finance (DOF) is leading the charge to enhance local government access to the People’s Survival Fund (PSF), the country’s flagship climate adaptation financing mechanism. 

As part of this effort, a nationwide caravan set for this quarter will capacitate local governments with knowledge and tools to better access local climate finance and deliver community-led climate adaptation projects. It targets vulnerable municipalities and provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, including the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, offering technical assistance through the Fund’s application and implementation processes. The rollout began in September 2025 at the Mindanao region and will continue with activities across the remaining regions in the final quarter of the year.

Created in 2012 by Republic Act No. 10174, the People’s Survival Fund (PSF) provides long-term finance streams to the Philippines’ most climate-vulnerable communities. Crucially, the PSF shifts the decision-making power away from the national government and directly to those experiencing climate impacts. This innovative, bottom-up approach promotes local resilience and adaptive capacity in the face of escalating climate disasters. To date, the PSF has awarded PHP 1.42 billion (approximately USD 24 million), covering 24 adaptation projects and project development grants.

The PSF caravan empowers subnational leaders by providing hands-on training to develop competitive PSF proposals, mobilize institutional resources, and efficiently manage implementation. Critically, the sessions also promote the alignment of local plans like the Comprehensive Land Use and Development Plan and the Annual Investment Plan with national plans like the National Adaptation Plan. This strategy aims to move the country beyond a fragmented approach to climate action, instead reinforcing the cohesive development of adaptation initiatives.