Collaborating to achieve sustainability with the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines – BusinessWorld Online

While the concept of sustainability has long been a topic of public discourse about society and its development, it has managed to gain traction with the growing awareness of the looming climate crisis and the global COVID-19 pandemic. Such crises have highlighted the potential social and economic damage liable to happen if humanity’s progress remains unchecked.

In a sense, sustainability is now being recognized by organizations, public and private globally, as the way forward, with the United Nations defining it as how society can meet “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The United Nations manifests its vision for a more sustainable world through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aimed at taking a holistic approach towards solving the world’s issues through strategies that build economic growth while addressing a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, and tackling climate change and environmental protection. The topic of sustainability was the subject of discussion among the members of the American Chamber of Commerce – Sustainability Committee in a recent interview with BusinessWorld.

James Donovan, Co-founder and Global CEO at ADEC Innovations and director at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, emphasized the interconnectedness of the SDGs, saying that the 17 aspirational goals taken as a whole present a better picture of sustainability than any one metric or definition.

“It may be difficult to define sustainability without looking at the holistic interconnection of the SDGs. Always depending one upon the other, it underscores the interconnectedness for our society, institutions, and our environment. These are the challenges of our times, and I believe we are up for that challenge as we define a new relationship with our resources,” he said.

Erika Courteille, Director at Climate Change and Sustainability Services at SGV & Co., a member firm of Ernst and Young (EY) echoed the sentiment, adding that she sees sustainability as the “innovation opportunity of our lifetime”.

“Many enterprises and individuals are now very inspired to do the right thing, to collaborate with each other on critical sustainability issues. We see companies partnering together, industry associations coming up with different innovative solutions to help accelerate society towards a more sustainable future,” she said.

“Collectively, we can create financial, consumer, human and societal long-term value for all stakeholders. When businesses work sustainably, the world works better, whether it’s for business, people, and the planet.”

The country’s long road to a sustainable future

The Philippines has made great strides in its efforts towards achieving the SDGs it had identified as its areas of focus. Most recently, at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), the government made sizeable efforts in its fight against climate change: from the establishment of a new panel of technical experts on climate change composed of scientists, and medical and disaster risk reduction practitioners from different regions; to the reveal of the government’s sustainable financial roadmap that sets the guiding principles creating the environment for greener policies; and the energy transition mechanism facility, which aims to fund the early retirement of coal-fired power plants and replace them with renewable energy alternatives.

Earlier, the Philippines has also committed to slashing its greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030.

Ms. Courteille said that while all the commitments around carbon reduction sounds promising, the country still needs them to be aligned with its policy frameworks like the Philippine Development Plan, Ambisyon 2040, the Philippine Energy Plan 2018-2040, and the like.

“There’s so much more to be done in this space. Unless the government penalizes companies, who do not decarbonize, or offers incentives to companies that do, then it will be hard to achieve our nationally determined contributions on carbon emission reduction by 2030,” she said.

“The Philippine Development Plan should address and provide a blueprint for development across the four areas of sustainability: economic, environment, social, and governance, to ensure that no one is left behind as our country progresses.”

Mr. Donovan underscored the need for the Philippines to use the considerable skill and talent of its people to reframe how it approaches sustainability.

“Sustainability should be framed as a competitive advantage. I can’t say this enough, the Philippines delivers services all over the world, high-caliber back-office services, support services, and IT services. We need to take some of that capability and turn it inwards and understand that we have these various pillars that we need addressed and use some of that creative capability to create a value proposition for the Philippines,” he said.

“We need to get the private sector, the NGOs, and the government to understand a little bit about each other’s language to move these issues down and create value propositions people can put money in and get clear outputs. We need to move to that business model. We are all in this together,” he ends.

Ms. Courteille added, “We need to act now. Climate change is here. And we need all hands on deck. Private, public, academe, everyone needs to work together to try to figure out how we can adapt and fight climate change in the Philippines.”

Leading the way in the private sector

Corporations, businesses, and enterprises of all sizes have a social responsibility to respond to this call to action. In an interview, Anna Legarda, communications director of multinational consumer goods firm Procter & Gamble, agreed, and noted they are using their company’s sizable resources to deliver quality products to consumers in a sustainable way.

“At Procter & Gamble, sustainability is embedded into our business strategy, which means it is hardwired into the everyday methods of how we do business. It’s not seen as a separate piece of work that’s simply bolted on, and it’s certainly not seen as simply CSR or citizenship work only,” she said.

She also highlighted various initiatives that P&G has spearheaded to champion sustainability in four key areas: brand innovations, the company’s supply chain, employee work plans, and societal partnerships. These are part of P&G’s AMBITION 2030 commitments, which aims to protect and enable positive impact on the environment and society while creating value for both the company and their consumers.

The multi-pronged initiative creates measurable goals and targets by 2030 for areas where P&G can make the most impact, such as using 100% recyclable or reusable packaging, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by half, increasing water efficiency by 35% and sourcing at least five billion liters of water from circular sources, and collaborating with organizations to increase the global area of certified forests, and strengthening certification systems.

“We partner a lot externally because we know that sustainability and the challenges across its different facets cannot be solved alone. We make sure that we are partnered with experts in the field that we are working on, and that the partnerships are technically feasible and have short-term, mid-term, and long-term results we work on together,” Ms. Legarda said.

“P&G is committed to delivering the best and most trusted products that make our everyday lives better, and to doing this in a sustainable way. It’s not a choice anymore, we are here to be a force for good, and to be a force for growth for everybody. For the country, for the economy, for the citizens, for the industry.”

For their part, Atty. Joseph Fabul, country manager for Corporate and Government Affairs at multinational snacks company Mondelēz International, said that clear environment, social, and governance programs are drivers for growth for the company and as such, these goals are integrated into the company’s core.

“In Mondelēz International, we’re on a mission to lead the future of snacking by creating snacks the right way for both the people and the planet to love. We are focused on making our snacks more sustainably by using less energy, less water, and less waste, with ingredients that consumers know and trust,” he said.

“Our purpose is to empower people to snack right by providing the right snacks for the right moments and made in the right way. Our entire ESG strategy is hardwired into that purpose. And we aim to deliver lasting change at scale by prioritizing areas of greatest impact by focusing on innovative and measurable solutions and collaborating to drive sector-wide transformation.”

Mondelēz International, he pointed out, has its Snacking Made Right strategy, which outlines how the company aims to make a lasting and meaningful impact on the world by “taking care of its people, protecting resources, and providing moments of comfort and connection for our consumers.”

Snacking Made Right is the lens which the company views ESG, a framework for its sustainability and well-being agendas. The strategy involves the sustainable sourcing of the ingredients it uses in its products, sustainable resource use, end-to-end carbon emissions reductions, and recyclable packaging and waste management.

Most notably, Mondelēz International has announced that it is committing to a 2050 target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its full value chain across the world. As part of the commitment, the company has signed the Science Based Targets Initiative’s Business Ambition for 1.5°C, aligning its long-term emissions mitigation targets with the ambitious aim of limiting temperature rise in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

Furthermore, Mondelēz International joined the United Nations Race to Zero Campaign to help build momentum towards a decarbonized economy.

“We are driving our public commitments to environmental and social progress enabled by strong, broad oversight, a culture of accountability and compliance, and positive two-way dialogue among stakeholders,” Atty. Fabul said.

“At Mondelez International, we are committed to doing business the right way. We have clear plans for our environmental, social, sustainability, and governance programs by creating a future with people and the planet in mind.”

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