ALI bullish on green initiatives

MANILA, Philippines— Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is bullish on achieving its sustainability goals as the company continues to intensify its green initiatives.

“I am confident that we will reach our goals given the progress we’ve made to offset our carbon footprint for our Scopes 1 and 2 emissions in all our commercial properties,” ALI president and CEO Bobby Dy said.

ALI has made bolder commitments of reducing and removing 100 percent of controllable emissions within the group by 2030, and reaching net zero by 2050.

Net zero refers to getting greenhouse gas emissions to zero as much as possible.

These emissions are Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, which, for ALI, are associated with a company’s controllable emissions from fuel, refrigerant and electricity use.

“We will be clearly defining our year-on-year targets so that we can measure and reach our 2030 carbon reduction and 2050 Net Zero goals. To achieve this, we will be working in partnership with our suppliers and customers to ensure that our initiatives are in line with our business goals,” Dy said.

ALI has advanced its sustainability roadmap with the company’s 2022 scores from global ESG (environment, social, governance) rating firms.

The company has achieved a B rating for water management, tied with Manila Water, as noted by the CDP, the highest rating for the Philippines.

As the only Philippine member with leadership rating since 2020, ALI also maintained its A- rating on the CDP Score Report on climate change, which is higher than Asia’s regional average of C.

The CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for investors, companies, cities and governments to assess and manage their environmental impact and is considered the gold standard in corporate environment reporting.

ALI is also the only Philippine member in ESG rating provider Sustainability Yearbook of S&P Global since 2017.

S&P Global ranked ALI within the 96th percentile this year, which is an improved score from 2021.

This puts ALI’s sustainability performance at the top four percent within the real estate industry, simultaneously making them the highest ranked company in the country.

ALI has likewise retained its Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) membership for the ninth year, while still being the only Philippine member.

The DJSI tracks the world’s largest companies’ sustainability initiatives by analyzing corporate economic, environmental, and social performances.

Meanwhile, ALI’s Sustainalytics standing remains low risk with a score of 16.9,  an improvement from last year’s 17.3.

ALI has also retained its MSCI rating of BB.

“With today’s focus on sustainability, circular economy, and going green, industries usually put emphasis on looking forward and creating a better world than we found it,” ALI said.

“The scores that ALI received were not achieved overnight. Forwarding sustainable development not only within the organization but in the country is an ambitious goal, and reaching its 2022 achievement of exceeding controllable carbon targets was five years in the making,” the company said.