After stepping into the Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR) in July 2022, Secretary Antonia “Toni” Yulo Loyzaga has brought science and transparency back into the department.

Under her helm, the country established its first comprehensive national natural resource geospatial database, leveraging satellite imagery through the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) and other space agencies to measure what we should treasure. The database identifies and accounts for the country’s natural capital for protection, enhancement and strategic development. Similarly, the national geospatial database informs and enables integrated management of these resources from mountain ridges to our reefs to ensure the convergence of climate action, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

On the global stage, Secretary Toni is the first woman in the current cabinet to address the United Nations during the Water Conference in March 2023, where she announced the establishment of the Water Resource Management Office under the DENR by Executive Order. The office will accelerate universal access to safe, sufficient, affordable, and sustainable water supply to sectors and communities. As the President's representative on the Climate Change Commission, she is leading the preparations for the country’s participation in the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP 28) in Dubai. She has also led the Philippine delegations to the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, COP 27 and the Conference On Biodiversity or CBD15.

Secretary Toni believes in a whole-of-nation approach to the environment, with private-public-academia-CSO and community partnerships at the crux for the development and security of the nation. In October 2023, Secretary Toni led a team to the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the West Philippine Sea to advance environmental security and national development. The DENR will establish a protected area and a marine station in partnership with the University of the Philippines Marine Sciences Institute (UP MSI), the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command, and the Kalayaan Local government. Preserving this critical ecosystem and its biodiversity will provide food security, livelihoods, and the preservation of the ocean's climate regulatory functions in the region and beyond.