ADFIAP, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), with support from the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), jointly held the 2nd Sustainable Finance Dialogue Forum with the theme, “Rallying Philippine Banks toward Managing Climate Risks & Opportunities,” at the Peninsula Manila Hotel on October 9, 2019.

The event, attended by 110 commercial bankers, risk management officers and credit and compliance officers from the 45 member banks of the BAP, sought to better understand the barriers facing banks to fully adopt and implement ESG and put forward policy recommendations that would jumpstart the integration of ESG and sustainability principles into the governance and portfolio strategies of the banks, in the light of the issuance of a policy draft on Sustainable Finance Framework (SFF) by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

ADFIAP participated in the forum through its Secretary General, Octavio B. Peralta, who served as moderator for the first two panel discussions which focused on the barriers to the adaptation of the SFF by the banks and potential recommend solutions and policy interventions to the SFF. The afternoon session also touched on building awareness on current trends and practices on climate risk reporting. Speakers from WWF, BAP, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) practitioners and partners also shared their on-going initiatives, tools and knowledge that shall help banks in starting their sustainability journeys.

The second sustainability forum also underscored the importance of being able to seize the opportunities and understand the costs that come with sustainable development. The banks were challenged to find a win-win situation where they can continue to remain profitable despite the risks involved in sustainable financing. The forum concluded that banks must be part of the transformation journey of creating a resilient economy and that banking should be profitable so it can be sustainable.

The second sustainability forum also underscored the importance of being able to seize the opportunities and understand the costs that come with sustainable development. The banks were challenged to find a win-win situation where they can continue to remain profitable, despite the risks involved in sustainable financing. The banks must be part of the transformation journey of creating a resilient economy. Banking should be profitable so it can be sustainable.