Private sector collaborates with government for climate action

MANILA, Philippines — The private sector has expressed its commitment and readiness to fund sustainability projects to support the country’s climate goals.

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) consultant and head of investor relations and sustainability Timothy Daniels said investors and fund managers around the world are increasingly considering sustainable project financing as a priority.

“Today, sustainable investing is a consideration, I would say, in almost all equity investments. And it is a very large opportunity,” he said.

Daniels said that as of 2020, Bloomberg estimated that there was as much as $30 trillion of assets allotted for specific environmental, social, governance (ESG) investing administered by fund managers globally.

The number is predicted to grow to as much as $40 trillion by the end of the decade.

Daniels said many fund and investment managers have sustainable projects, including ESG, at the top of mind when choosing which companies to partner with.

He said they consider ESG efforts as an indicator of a company’s health and viability.

“There are investors who choose sustainability because they believe that sustainable companies are just better companies. Sustainable companies over the long-term are just better run, more reliable, they are less risky, and they are more profitable. This is a belief that is widely held,” Daniels said.

Philippine Climate Change Commission Secretary Robert Borje said both the government and the private sector must work together in a collective effort to achieve the country’s climate goals.

Borje said the government requires a whole-of-society approach, noting that collaboration with the private sector, academe, and communities, among others, is essential.

“Climate change intersects with various social, economic, and ecosystem challenges, exacerbating issues such as poverty, inequality and biodiversity loss. Businesses face disruptions in operations, supply chains and increased costs due to disasters, ultimately leading to economic instability and job loss,” Borje said.

Borje said the government has already laid the policy groundwork for decarbonization.

The country has so far aligned with various international frameworks and agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The country’s largest corporations, on their end, are working with the government and other private sector partners in tackling the challenges of climate change.

These companies have formed the Carbon PH Coalition, which recently held a learning session where they shared best practices for achieving their respective climate goals.

The Aboitiz Group has acted as the de facto secretariat of the Carbon PH Coalition, which holds regular learning sessions to create a platform for companies to share best practices and gather diverse views from different stakeholders as they conduct their respective sustainability drives.

“The idea of these meetings was to bring together like-minded companies, organizations, and individuals that have heavily invested in, and or, are heavily investing further into nature-based solutions, that can deliver meaningful impact in solving climate change,” Aboitiz Equity Ventures chief reputation and sustainability officer Ginggay Hontiveros-Malvar said.