Aboitiz sustainability initiatives cited in maiden PBE-UNDP report
Several initiatives of the Aboitiz Group were recently recognized by the Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as one of the outstanding private sector contributions to the country’s achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
In its first-ever report “Transformational Business: Philippine Business Contributions to the UN SDGs,” the Aboitiz Group’s Aboitiz Cleanergy Park (an eight-hectare outdoor biodiversity park in Davao City that is currently home to 2,829 critically-endangered hawksbill sea turtles and 102 other species), Aboitiz food business unit (BU) Pilmico’s Mahalin Pagkaing Atin (a campaign introduced that aims to promote sustainable entrepreneurship through promotion of local produce) and private weather information provider WeatherPhilippines’ #WeatherWiser Nation (a campaign optimizing weather knowledge for disaster preparedness and socio-economic growth and progress) were prominently mentioned and extensively discussed throughout the report.
These initiatives were voluntarily submitted in the SDG Portal, an online platform where companies provided data and other information on their initiatives that contribute to the SDGs.
The Aboitiz Foundation’s Special Science Elementary Schools and Technical-Vocational High Schools (SSES and tech-voc HS) were also cited as an initiative sourced through desk research, specifically from the Aboitiz Foundation website (http://aboitizfoundation.org/
In 2016, the Aboitiz Group adopted four SSES, refurbished three SSES classrooms and laboratories, and trained 40 SSES teachers. In the same period, it also assisted or developed 18 tech-voc HS (benefiting 757 tech-voc HS students) and trained 675 tech-voc HS scholars.
In addition to contributing to SDGs on People, the Economy, the Environment, and Infrastructure, the Aboitiz Group was also noted for contributing to SDGs on Governance through its Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, which sets how executive management, team leaders, and team members can achieve and maintain ethical standards in the company’s day-to-day operations and summarizes the company’s fundamental policies and directives.
“The inclusion of our various groupwide initiatives—which began even before the SDGs were launched—clearly demonstrates our commitment to drive change for a better world by advancing business and communities. We will continue to support the PBE and UNDP, and align with the UN SDGs for all our group and BU-based initiatives,” said Erramon I. Aboitiz, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer.
