BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO) was named Top Sustainability Advocate in Asia for the third consecutive year at the 2023 Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability (ACES) Awards in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
BDO’s institutional approach to sustainability, pioneering sustainable finance of groundbreaking renewable energy projects, green buildings and initiatives in support of United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, forging innovative partnerships with international financial institutions, and integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in funding were the bank’s key differentiators that led to this recognition.
In May 2022, BDO pioneered the issuance of the first Blue Bond in Southeast Asia through an investment from International Finance Corporation (IFC) amounting to $100 million for funding activities that preserve clean water resources and help prevent marine pollution, while supporting the Philippines’ water sustainability and climate goals. BDO is the country’s first bank to finance projects that protect water and the ocean as critical resources, introducing a new financial instrument to protect the environment.
BDO announced its Energy Transition Finance Statement last year reinforcing the Bank’s commitment to financing the transition to a low-carbon, environmentally responsible and socially inclusive economy anchored on good governance. The Bank continues to expand its Sustainable Finance initiatives, in place since 2010, towards funding new and existing renewable energy projects to increase their capacity, and support the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions to the 2015 Paris Agreementthat aims to reduce 75 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030.
BDO also joined other leading Asian banks in advancing energy transition finance with the publication of the Asia Transition Finance Guidelines and the Asia Transition Finance Activity Report, aimed at helping Asian economies achieve a “just and orderly transition” toward a more sustainable future. BDO is a member of the Asian Transition Finance Study Group (ATF Study Group) that drafted the guidelines in pursuit of an Asian version of transition finance that is more realistic and achievable for Asian nations.
