Mike DeGuzman is easing the energy transition in the Philippines. In 2026, the country became the world’s second-largest market for Chinese solar exports as residents search for ways to lower bills, but many people still struggle with upfront installation costs. Under DeGuzman’s leadership, Solaric, a leading solar provider in the region, partnered with local government authorities earlier this year to supply and install home rooftop solar systems as part of a first-of-its-kind flexible financing program to help households make the switch affordably. —Jessica Hullinger

What is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government (other than your own), needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?
Find alternatives. And make them accessible to everyone. For years, we took it for granted that we could always get cheap oil, diesel, and other fossil fuels. But recent geopolitical events have reminded us that those things can no longer be taken for granted. What happens when you can no longer get the energy you've always depended on?

We are entering an era of self-sufficiency, what I like to call the era of "me energy." Energy has to come from me, from people, from us. Households, communities, and businesses must be empowered to generate their own power rather than remain entirely dependent on imported fuels and centralized systems. Governments need to make that easier, not harder.

What’s one sustainability effort you personally will try to adopt in the next year, and why?
For the past 13 years, I've been lobbying for renewable energy and conducted hundreds of seminars teaching people how to install solar. I've watched solar evolve from an alternative energy source into a major contributor to the Philippines' growing energy capacity. Now, I want to be part of the next big transition: from internal combustion engines and diesel to electric vehicles.

In the Philippines, practically everything depends on imported fuel. We have limited fuel reserves, and affordability is bonkers. Farmers can barely afford to bring their produce to market. Our fishing industry struggles because fuel costs can make catching fish economically unsustainable. Sometimes the problem isn't that we can't produce food, it's that we can't afford to transport it.

We have to bring down the cost of transportation and electricity. Over the next year, I want to personally focus on developing ways to combine solar energy with EV charging infrastructure, including decentralized "pocket solar farms" of around 500 kilowatt-peak that can support communities without relying entirely on a grid that is already struggling to keep up.

My mission is to make clean energy and clean transportation accessible, not just to those who can afford the latest technology, but to the people who need it most. Because what good is an energy revolution if the people who need it most can't afford to join it?

What is a climate solution (other than your own) that isn't getting the attention or funding it deserves?
Removing red tape and improving access to capital. It sounds almost too simple, but sometimes the biggest obstacle to fighting climate change isn't technology but paperwork. In the Philippines, getting permits for net metering in some areas can take up to eight months or even a year. Think about that: We have people willing to invest their own money in clean energy, and we make them wait nearly a year for permission to do something that's good for the planet.

The result is we’ve unintentionally encouraged a growing market of informal, unreported, backyard "guerrilla" solar installations. People want to be part of the solution, but the system makes it unnecessarily difficult.

We already have the technology. We have the demand. And the economics make sense. What we need is easier financing, faster approvals and regulations that encourage adoption instead of discouraging it. We can't keep telling people to save the planet, and then make them stand in line for permission.

What gives you hope about the future of the planet/climate movement?
The younger generation gives me hope. For them, taking care of the planet is already a given. They don't need to be convinced that climate change matters. What also gives me hope is seeing how far the solar industry has come. When we started Solaric 13 years ago, very few Filipinos knew much about rooftop solar. We started teaching people how to install it, and over the years trained thousands of installers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Some have gone on to start their own solar businesses that compete with ours, and that’s a good thing because no single business can drive an entire country’s energy transition.  

But what really excites me is sustainability finally making economic sense. For the longest time, going green was seen as a sacrifice, something you did because it was morally right, even if it cost more. That's changing now. Today, clean energy is the smarter financial decision. Businesses are adopting it not just to save the planet, but to save money, and that's when things really start moving. When environmental responsibility also makes financial sense, you no longer have to convince people to make the change. Because by doing the smart thing, they’re doing the right thing.

Do you think AI will help or worsen the climate crisis? How?
It depends on human behavior and what we choose to do with the technology. If the massive adoption of AI means less commuting, smarter energy management, and more efficient industries, then it could significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

We're looking at what is essentially generation 1.0 of this technology. The people developing AI have every reason to make it faster, smarter, and more energy-efficient. And AI itself can help us improve renewable energy forecasting, optimize electricity distribution, and identify inefficiencies we couldn't easily detect before.

The challenge is making sure the energy required to power AI doesn't outweigh the environmental benefits it can deliver. At the end of the day, AI is a tool. Whether it helps or worsens the climate crisis depends on how intelligently we use it.  Humanity created artificial intelligence. The ultimate irony would be if, in making machines smarter, we became less intelligent about how we treat our planet.