Lopez GroupOver 100 organizations from the corporate sector, the nonprofit community and the government took part in the Business Climate Action Summit organized by the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) and The Philippine Imperative for Climate Change.

First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) chairman Federico R. Lopez, FPHC president Elpidio L. Ibañez, Al Santos of First Gen, Rene Mayol and Glenn Perez of Lopez Group Business Excellence, and the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) Environment Team led by Agnes de Jesus joined the action-oriented summit. The event served as followthrough on the commitments of business to reduce impacts on climate change as expressed in the 2009 Business Covenant for Climate Action.

Climate Change Commission vice chair Lucille Sering drove the summit with an encouragement on how business can participate and respond to the challenge of climate change. As of March 23, partial results of the 2011 Climate Change and Sustainability survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed that costs are the main barrier for Philippine-based businesses “to take sufficient action on climate change,” even as partial results of a survey among 72 respondents showed that more than half were “very concerned” about this phenomenon’s impact. The results were discussed by Dan Hamza-Goodacre, climate change and sustainability advisor of PwC Financial Advisors Inc.

The action summit featured cluster working sessions in five areas. Business for Environmentally Sustainable Transport or BEST was led by Lopez Group Business Excellence, Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities, Shell Philippines and Honda Cars Philippines Inc. Working on Initiatives for Sustainable Energy or WISE meanwhile was led by First Gen and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, while Sustainable Agriculture and Forest Ecosystem or SAFE was led by EDC and Alyansa Agrikultura. The other clusters were Solid Waste Action Team or SWAT led by Unilever and the Philippine Business for Social Progress, and Sustainable Cities led by the Philippine Green Building Council.

The cluster leaders focused on the steps needed to build a low-carbon economy, such as accelerating business and bottom-up collaborations, and implementing practical solutions to climate change.

Those interested to join any of the project clusters may contact lgeshs@ fphc.com or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .