PNB Undertakes Sustainability at its Core

In today’s financial landscape, the true bottom line has three columns: profit, people, and planet.

For PNB, the signal is clear: sustainability is not cosmetic. It is capital at work. (Photo: Asian Institute of Digital Transformation) 

That was the quiet signal sent by Philippine National Bank when it rolled out the second year of its Sustainability Summit Workshop with the theme “Inspire, Innovate, Ignite.” 

Unlike other institutions where sustainability is painted as corporate garnish, PNB has begun weaving it into its core strategies, operations, and even its capital-raising tools.

At the summit, PNB Director Geocel Olanday, head of the Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee, emphasized collective responsibility.

BSP Assistant Governor Pia Roman-Tayag sharpened the message: sustainability is no longer just moral but strategic. For a nation battered by climate risks, financial institutions that fail to adapt risk irrelevance.

Words are cheap. Bonds are not. Last October, PNB issued a US$300 million sustainability bond that was more than 3.6 times oversubscribed, with demand reaching US$1.1 billion. Moody’s rated it investment grade (Baa3).

The proceeds are already financing solar power projects and battery energy storage — not just talk, but capital committed to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.

Recognition followed, with The Asset awarding it Best Sustainability Bond – Financial Institution.

This is no small feat in a country where sustainability often gets reduced to tree-planting photo ops or CSR platitudes. PNB’s move shows that sustainability is bankable — global investors will put money into green projects if the structure is credible.

More importantly, it positions the bank not just as a financial intermediary but as a climate actor, deciding which projects will shape our future.

PNB President and CEO Edwin Bautista framed it well: the twin imperatives of digital transformation and sustainability must anchor growth. Yet this vision will be tested.

Will other banks follow suit? Will regulators support blended finance models for SMEs, as Roman-Tayag urged? Or will sustainability remain the buzzword of the decade, promising much but delivering little?

For PNB, the signal is clear: sustainability is not cosmetic. It is capital at work.

And if the rest of the banking sector does not follow through, they risk being left behind in a world where the new bottom line is written not just in pesos, but in carbon, resilience, and impact.

The question is no longer whether sustainability sells — it’s whether it saves. And banks like PNB now hold the pen that will write that chapter.