Private sector urged to incorporate sustainability and long-term resilience in business strategies
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the private sector is urged to incorporate sustainability and long-term resilience into their business strategies in order to thrive in the new normal while dealing with the current economic challenges, which includes investing in the welfare of their employees, suppliers, and customers.
Climate finance key to economic resiliency – experts
The Philippines can utilize climate change and energy transition financing to ensure a thriving, resilient economy, especially with the Department of Finance at the helm, according to two climate finance experts. “Climate finance is crucial, but is limited. We need solid plans to maximize every peso that we have for climate action,” said Angelo Kairos Dela Cruz, deputy executive director of the Manila-based international nonprofit Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), in an online briefing. Dela Cruz shared the results of the Climate Finance Adaptation Study Report for the Philippines, which shows that USD 770 million (PHP 38.5 [...]
Diokno, Legarda tell executives to factor in climate risk in corporate strategy
MAKATI CITY, 30 October 2020 -- Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Benjamin Diokno and House deputy speaker Loren Legarda challenged executives to integrate the physical and transition risks brought about by climate change in their planning and decision-making. “The financial sector holds a unique position in advancing the sustainability agenda. We cannot leave climate change and sustainability as only the government's priority,” Diokno told members of the Institute of Corporate Directors in a virtual conference it organized yesterday with the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) and The Climate Reality Project (TCRP) Philippines. “The COVID-19 pandemic provides [...]
ICSC lauds DOE moratorium on new coal plants
28 October 2020 — The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities applauds and fully supports Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Alfonso Cusi’s announcement yesterday of a moratorium on new coal plants. Atty. Pedro H. Maniego Jr., senior policy advisor of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, chairman of the Energy Lawyers Association of the Philippines, and former chairman of the National Renewable Energy Board, stated: “By declaring a moratorium on new coal plants, Secretary Cusi is adhering to DOE’s mandate to enable competition in the energy sector and provide reliable and cost effective power, while giving preference to indigenous [...]
Philippine central bank signs sustainable finance framework
30 April 2020 — The Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) signed yesterday its Sustainable Finance Framework recognizing that “physical and transition risks arising from climate change could result in significant societal, economic and financial risks affecting the banks and their stakeholders.” The framework also includes green finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects in its definition of sustainable finance. Experts say the BSP framework sets the precedence to start not only pricing climate and transition risk, but also valuing climate-resilient and low-carbon opportunities. The Sustainable Finance Framework was published as [...]