MANILA, Philippines — BDO Unibank Inc.’s Sustainable Finance Framework (SFF) has recently been given the endorsement by Sustainalytics, a leading independent environmental, social and governance (ESG) research and ratings provider based in New York.
“BDO’s Sustainable Finance Framework is credible and impactful, and aligns with the Sustainability Bond Guidelines in 2018, Green Loan Principles 2020 and the ASEAN Sustainability Bond Standards 2018,” Sustainalytics said.
The bank’s sustainable finance initiatives began with the establishment of the Social and Environmental Management Systems (SEMS) policy in 2010 with the assistance of the International Finance Corp. The SEMS guidelines cover social and environmental impact assessment and risk categorization of borrowers. Further, the bank had set up a Sustainable Finance Desk that initially focused on financing renewable energy projects and has expanded the scope to include all forms of sustainable practices including energy efficiency, climate-smart agriculture, green infrastructure and clean transportation.
BDO’s SFF is in line with the United Nations Social Development Goals, and focuses on five key strategies, namely: Product Sustainability, Sustainability Contribution, Human Capital Sustainability, Disaster Response Sustainability, and Governance-based Sustainability.
This strengthens the bank’s support for targeted and responsible projects that facilitate climate resilience and promote inclusive economic growth.