Christophe Bahuet UNDP Philippines

02/10/2026

Very pleased to host Carlos Pagoaga, President of The Coca-Cola Foundation, and his team in the Philippines 🇵🇭 and to visit Iloilo Province together to see circularity in practice.

Circularity starts with what happens to waste every day: how it is segregated, collected, recovered and brought back into productive use.

In Iloilo, we are working to strengthen these systems, from improving collection and material recovery to supporting waste workers and connecting recovered plastics to new markets and economic opportunities.

Through our partnership with The Coca-Cola Foundation, UNDP Philippines brings these different pieces together, so that less plastic becomes waste, more value stays within communities, and local solutions can be sustained and scaled.

30/09/2026

[𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆] A milestone for peace, democracy and development in the Bangsamoro. 🗳️

The first regular parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao mark a new chapter in BARMM’s journey towards lasting peace and inclusive democratic governance.

But elections do not happen overnight. Meaningful participation depends on informed citizens, capable institutions, inclusive spaces for participation, and communities empowered to make their voices heard.

With support from the Governments of Japan, Australia and Spain, UNDP has worked alongside national and Bangsamoro institutions, civil society, young people and communities to strengthen voter education, electoral institutions and digital systems, the information environment, and citizen engagement that sustains peace.

More than 2 million people cast their ballots in BARMM’s first parliamentary elections. The work now goes beyond election day—strengthening institutions, sustaining citizen participation, and ensuring that democratic governance translates into greater inclusion, better opportunities and tangible improvements in people’s lives.

🔗 Read the blog: https://go.undp.org/NaB

The first regular parliamentary elections held on 14 September 2026 in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are a major milestone in the region’s journey towards lasting peace, democratic governance and sustainable development. They are among the most visible expressions of ...

25/09/2026

A special honour to be invited to do the closing of the ASEAN Regional Exchange on Circular Economy (CE) this evening in Manila.

Circular economy is an economic opportunity as much as an environmental imperative. Yet the global economy is estimated to be less than 7% circular.

CE is gaining momentum in the ASEAN countries and to fully harness its potential, focus should be on: building the business case based on experience gained ; extend circular approaches across sectors; attract substantially more investments; and connect ASEAN frameworks with national policies and local action.

UNDP Philippines is working with government and partners to translate circular economy approaches into practical solutions across the country.

24/09/2026

Welcome to the UNDP Philippines
booth at the ASEAN Regional Exchange on Circular Economy!

Circular economy is becoming an increasingly important part of our work as we integrate environmental action, economic transformation, jobs, innovation and effective use of resources.

Our approach is at several levels:

At the national level, we support policies and institutions that can create the conditions for circularity, including work on extended producer responsibility and the National Plastic Action Partnership, which brings government, business, civil society and development partners together around a shared agenda for addressing plastic pollution.

At the local level, a major part of our portfolio is through the EU–Philippines Green Economy Partnership, funded by the 🇪🇺 Global Gateway that supports the Philippines’ transition to a greener and more circular economy. Within the Partnership, UNDP is working with cities and municipalities to develop locally led circular economy solutions, while strengthening local capacities, policies, financing approaches and innovation.

In the city of Iloilo, with support from The Coca-Cola Foundation, our Philippine Plastics Circularity Project is strengthening local plastic collection and recovery systems, supporting waste workers and circular enterprises, and promoting behavioural change.

This work goes well beyond recycling. Circular economy is about how products are designed, how resources are used, how businesses operate, how cities manage growth and how value can be retained rather than discarded.

That is where circular economy becomes not only an environmental agenda, but a green development agenda for the Philippines, where UNDP 🇵🇭 helps connect policy, local action, businesses, finance and innovation so that successful approaches can go to scale.

24/09/2026

Meet two women leaders of the Philippines 🇵🇭: Mayor Joy Belmonte of Quezon City
Mayor Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman of Isabela City.

They both champion circular economy, transparency, citizens’ participation, inclusion and poverty reduction.

Their presentations at the ASEAN Regional Dialogue exemplified how much cities can do to embrace sustainable development, good governance and improve the daily life of their citizens.

UNDP Philippines is proud to partner with those two cities through the European Union 🇪🇺 Global Gateway Green Economic Partnership.

22/09/2026

Today in Manila, we kicked off the ASEAN Regional Dialogue on Circular Economy (CE).
My topic was to offer a development perspective on CE:

- While developed countries were the early adopters, developing countries have now shown a strong appetite and potential for CE, which is gaining momentum in ASEAN.

- National strategies are important; however, the local level is key. CE is for cities, both large and small, all of which can benefit from it.

- CE goes way beyond plastic recycling. It cuts across sectors and involves a whole range of public and private actors.

- There is a strong business and development case for CE, as it can spur growth, create jobs and attract investment.

- Development partners like UNDP can foster CE at the national and local levels by supporting conducive regulations, piloting and scaling innovations, creating space for cooperation and facilitating the exchange of experiences within and across countries.

In the Philippines 🇵🇭 , the European Union 🇪🇺 Global Gateway Green Economic Partnership (GEP) with UNDP Philippines and other partners is supporting over 60 local governments to develop and accelerate the circular economy.

The examples showcased at the Dialogue gave a concrete sense of how circular economy approaches under the GEP are already delivering economic, social and environmental benefits.

17/09/2026

I had the pleasure of joining the 3rd Steering Board Meeting of the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) Philippines—a multi-stakeholder platform that has been bringing government, industry, and other stakeholders together to advance collective action toward plastic pollution and a more circular and sustainable plastics economy.

The meeting comes at a crucial time for NPAP Philippines as partners take stock of progress, particularly the development of the .

Coming from this discussion, I am optimistic after seeing the value of this partnership in developing a shared national direction that is grounded in evidence, informed by multi-sectoral perspectives across the plastic value chain, and responsive to the realities faced by communities whose lives and livelihoods are highly dependent on and affected by plastics.

I am excited to witness the next milestone of the Roadmap, but also recognize that this is just the beginning of our work to align fragmented initiatives and co-create efficient and practical pathways for reducing plastic pollution and advancing circularity.

As technical secretariat to the NPAP, UNDP Philippines works with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which leads NPAP Philippines with support from the World Economic Forum, which leads the Global Plastic Action Partnership, and partners including the UK Government, the Government of Canada, and The Coca-Cola Foundation.

16/09/2026

This morning, I joined the ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience for a discussion on strengthening recovery readiness and disaster risk financing.

UNDP’s experience in the Philippines and Asia-Pacific shows that "Building Back Better" is important, but not enough. Effective resilience needs to be in place before a disaster strikes. It requires strong planning, agreed institutional roles for both central and local governments, financing mechanisms, local capacities, and accountability systems that can be activated when needed. It also requires making investments that will reduce future risk and protect development gains.

Australia’s partnership with UNDP through the SHIELD programme offers a practical example from the Philippines 🇵🇭. Working with national agencies and local governments, SHIELD is helping turn risk information into better planning, stronger local capacity, and more finance-ready resilience investments — the kind of groundwork that makes recovery faster, more inclusive, and less likely to recreate risk.

09/09/2026

Pleased to join the Department of Economy, Planning and Development DepDEV's 13th Monitoring and Evaluation Forum for a discussion on responsible AI and the future of M&E in the Philippines.

UNDP's 2025 Human Development Report frames AI as a development “wildcard”: it can expand possibilities, but its impact depends on the choices institutions make.

For M&E, AI can help strengthen evaluation systems, connect planning and budgeting more effectively, and support faster use of evidence. But technology alone will not make evidence useful. Data must be complete and trusted, systems must be connected, and institutions must be able to interpret evidence and act on it.

This is why UNDP Philippines and DepDEV continue to work closely on strengthening the institutional foundations of evidence-based governance: evaluations, regional capacities, dashboards, and the Revised National Evaluation Policy Framework.

The future of AI in M&E will depend less on the tools themselves than on how well they are embedded in the systems through which public decisions are made.

08/09/2026

Biodiversity is not only about protecting nature. It is also about sustaining livelihoods, food security, and community resilience.

The Philippines faces an estimated PHP77 billion financing gap in achieving its national biodiversity goals. Through the country’s first project under the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), UNDP is supporting Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through its Biodiversity Management Bureau, in implementing the Philippines Biodiversity Financing Program (PBFP).

The programme aims to strengthen the management of six terrestrial and two marine protected areas, improve biodiversity financing, and promote indigenous knowledge and locally led conservation.

By making conservation more sustainable, we can help protect the ecosystems that communities depend on while creating opportunities for people and development.