Section 2Sec./Art. 2

Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to:

(a) Recognize natural ecosystems as an integral part of patrimony and heritage'

(b) Protect and promote ecological balance and resilience, and advance the right of the people to live in harmony with nature;

(c) Adhere to internationally accepted System of Environmental-Economic Accounting that measures and monitors the dynamic interaction and intersections of the environment, economy and society;

(d) Develop a comprehensive information system and accounting framework that will take into consideration the role of our natural capital, consisting of both environmental and natural resources including ecosystem services, and its impact on the economy;

(e) Compile and progressively integrate natural capital accounts in macroeconomic indicators, strengthening and building on Republic Act No. 10625, otherwise known as the "Philippine Statistical Act of 2013", which mandates the compilation of national accounts, including environmental accounts, statistics, and indicators;

(f) Provide indicators that will facilitate the integration of environmental and natural resource concerns in planning and policy making at the national and subnational levels, in allocating budgets, and in designating statistics that will be produced regularly for an identified period of analysis;

(g) Establish and improve interagency coordination for the purpose of linking natural capital information as well as efficient data management among concerned agencies and their partner institutions, and establish an office to guide such coordination; and

(h) Understand nature's pricelessness, its heritage and intrinsic value, and its interdependencies in the implementation of the foregoing policies to consider that nature and ecosystems have inherent rights to exist, with an end view of recognizing legal rights that serve to protect endangered ecosystems and applying the precautionary principle, especially when economic values cannot be estimated.