Metro Pacific Senior Managers Discuss Sustainability Strategies

Over 300 senior managers of Metro Pacific Investments Corp and the MVP Group of Companies have attended the first-ever Sustainability Summit to dwell on key issues such as climate change, sustainability reporting standards, investor expectations, and emerging global trends.

Photo Insert: The outstanding lineup of global environmental, social, and governance experts assembled by Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) in their first-ever Group Sustainability Summit held virtually.

“The group has a very strong social ethic beyond our traditional role of providing goods and services for a profit. The major metric by which our success should be measured is how well we uplift the lives of our people,” said MPIC Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

“I think we have the ability to push the sustainability agenda ahead of other corporates in this country. I’m glad that this summit sends an affirmative but resounding message that it is time to really be serious about these sustainability programs within our group and within the business community in general in the Philippines, ” he added.

“Sustainability is the hot topic today and we all know that climate risk has steadily risen in our risk management boards. However, most of us will probably want to have a fuller understanding of what sustainability means and how it may impact the way we manage our companies,” said MPIC President and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim as he opened the Summit last August 6.

Aligning with global best practices in sustainability begins with ensuring that decision-makers are kept abreast with recent developments and trends. To achieve this goal, MPIC purposely partnered with established institutions that graciously shared their insights during the summit.

Neil Stewart, Director of Corporate Outreach at the Value Reporting Foundation, spoke about the importance of global reporting standards and how the merging of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) is a major step in driving the global alignment of reporting standards.

EY Leader for Climate Change and Sustainability Services and Oceania Chief Sustainability Officer Mathew Nelson stressed the importance of going beyond compliance as he discussed EY’s Global Climate Risk Disclosure Barometer.

Brendan Baker, Vice President and ESG Climate Specialist at MSCI, discussed the value of forward-looking, return-based quantification of climate change risks, while BSR Vice President for Asia-Pacific Jeremy Prepscius led the panel on “Transformation to Net Zero” with co-panelists Melissa Brown, Partner at Daobridge Capital and the Director for Group Sustainability of an established player in the power industry in Asia.

Speakers from S&P Global’s Sustainable1, Michael Salvatico, Head of Asia Pacific ESG Business Development, and Bertrand Jabouley, Head of Sustainable Finance, Asia-Pacific, covered global emerging ESG trends and sustainable financing options.

MPIC Investors M&G Investments represented by Ben Constable-Maxwell, Head of Impact Investing and Michael Bourke, Head of Global Emerging Markets and Fund Manager commended the group’s impressive metrics in human capital excellence as well as its efforts as a strategic partner of the government in helping improve lives in the Philippines. They also shared their expectations on environmental, social, and governance matters from their investee companies.

Yayu Javier, United Nations Global Compact Network Philippines (UNGCP) Chairperson highlighted key sustainability areas of focus where MPIC and UNCGCP can jointly make meaningful contributions in.

The afternoon sessions included a discussion on sustainability reporting trends in the Philippines by SGV & Co Business Consulting Partner Joseph Ian Canlas. Finally, Business for Sustainable Development’s Executive Director Bonar Laureto took the group into a deep dive into the materiality assessment and strategy development process.

Hosted by Atty. Mike Toledo, MPIC Vice President for Government Relations, the summit also featured MPIC Group Sustainability Council Champions who capped each session with their key takeaways.

MPIC Chief Finance Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer Chaye A. Cabal-Revilla who has taken on the challenge of driving the group’s Sustainability strategy said, “We cannot operate our businesses with just profit in mind. More importantly, we have to be driven by purpose – we can always do good while doing well. We have put Sustainability at the heart of MPIC to future-proof not just our business but our existence as humanity. We all have to work together. Adhering to global sustainability reporting standards and integrating sustainability into our DNA and everything that we do is really key into making it pervasive and successful. This also means that everybody has to help out.”

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