FPH’s climate change advocacy explains why its subsidiary First Gen Corporation prioritizes the use of clean and renewable energy sources as fuel to run its power plants.
First Philippine Holdings Corp. has bagged a gold award for the company’s maiden entry to the 6th Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (ASRA) held recently in Singapore by CSRWorks International, a Singapore-based sustainability services firm.
First Philippine Holdings’ 2020 Integrated Report earned the gold or the highest award in the Best Integrated Report (First Time) Category during the exclusive Singapore event held last month that was broadcast live in a virtual setting due to the ongoing pandemic.
ASRA, which is considered the most prestigious international awards for corporate reporting, drew in its latest staging more than 250 senior business leaders and sustainability practitioners from 20 countries, as well as dignitaries from academe, embassies, trade associations and advocacy organizations.
An independent panel of judges reviewed 494 entries received from 17 countries across 19 award categories. Out of these entries, 102 companies from 14 countries made it to the finals, while the intensely contested final round produced 39 winners, including a Report of the Year award.
“First Philippine Holdings Corp. report shows exceptional leadership in transparent reporting of its sustainability performance and reflects its readiness for a resilient future,” said Rajesh Chhabara, managing director and founder of CSRWorks, a non-profit group that holds the annual ASRA to identify and honor sustainability reporting leaders.
First Philippine Holdings or FPH serves as the publicly-listed holding company for the power, industrial and real estate assets of the Lopez Group of Companies. FPH, along with its subsidiaries, has long been at the forefront in the campaign against climate change.
“In our own small way, we try to inspire our stakeholders — our customers, co-creators, investors, and host communities, to name a few — by providing them a comprehensive analysis of the company’s performance, especially how this performance creates value and provides services for them. Included in our 2020 report were the steps we took to minimize the impact of the pandemic that allowed us to continue serving our stakeholders,” said Ricky Carandang, FPH vice president and head of corporate communications.
The maiden FPH 2020 Integrated Report marked the year FPH declared as a conglomerate-wide mission “to forge collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future”. FPH crafted the new mission after it realized that incremental sustainability does not help reverse climate change.
FPH’s climate change advocacy explains why its subsidiary First Gen Corporation prioritizes the use of clean and renewable energy sources as fuel to run its power plants. This has turned First Gen into the country’s clean energy leader with power plants running on geothermal, hydro, wind and solar, which are renewable energy sources; and natural gas, the cleanest form of fossil fuel.
In 2016, the same climate change advocacy led to FPH’s decision to declare as a policy of the conglomerate never to build, develop, or invest in any power plant running on coal, a carbon-intensive fuel being blamed for adverse climate change.
