Aboitiz’s Environmental Programs in the Philippines

What are Aboitiz’s environmental programs in the Philippines?

1. 10-year Cleanergy Strategy
2. Local Climate Change Action Planning 
3. A-Park Program
4. Aboitiz’s No Impact Challenge
5. Ecosystem-Based Biodiversity Management

Environmental sustainability is an increasing concern for many. We know now, more than ever, that protecting our natural resources and making sure we use them responsibly is key to a sustainable future for generations to come. 

As our work here at Aboitiz Group directly affects the environment, we carry a great responsibility to protect it. As environmental activist Edward Abbey once emphasized, “action is the antidote to despair.” So we make sure to take action where we can!

This is why our environmental programs in the Philippines are varied and far-reaching. Our strategic business units address concerns related to resource replenishment, emission reduction, waste management, renewable energy capacities, and biodiversity. 

Read on to learn more about our major environmental projects, and how we use them to battle climate change:

10-year Cleanergy Strategy

AboitizPower, as one of the country’s leading renewable energy providers, has a huge impact on our home’s natural resources. Though we have to take them to provide high-quality, cleaner energy to homes, we also know we have to give back to our planet.

That’s why we have Cleanergy — our brand for renewable energy solutions. From solar to hydropower plants, we continue to both grow and explore opportunities to expand our renewable energy sources throughout the country. 

Part of our 10-year Cleanergy strategy is to maintain a varied yet balanced energy portfolio, to better provide reliable and ample power to homes and businesses alike — while keeping our operations priced reasonably and sourced sustainably. 

To achieve this, we are slowly transitioning, and hoping to bring our portfolio mix to a 50-50 ratio between Cleanergy and Thermal sources by 2030! Here’s how we plan to make our transition:

• Grow our renewable energy capacity from 4,432 MW to 9,300 MW
• Welcome international business to become 13% of our generation portfolio.
• Use 65% of our new capacity for Cleanergy sources, from 2020 to 2029. 

Local Climate Change Action Planning

The Philippines, as we have all experienced, is very much affected by climate change, and this worsens with every year. So, we formed a program to help us protect our home: Local Climate Change Action Planning! 

Working with local businesses and government units, we use this program to help strengthen a community’s preparedness, knowledge, and resilience to climate change, including major emergencies and national disasters. 

One past example of this environmental program is our workshop in La Trinidad, Benguet. We knew this area was uniquely vulnerable to earthquakes, storms, and other force majeure. 

To help them weather possible disasters, and to promote the community’s self-reliance, we partnered with the local government of La Trinidad to conduct a series of disaster resilience training. We worked with several cooperatives, such as Thanksgiving Multipurpose Cooperative, Lamut Multipurpose Cooperative, and Shilan Multipurpose Cooperative. 

Our vision for these projects? To create strong and sustainable communities, and put a spotlight on disaster resilience and preparedness. Our workshops are also designed to help our partners become empowered, reduce risk and future losses on livelihood and resources, and make prompt, life-saving decisions in times of emergency. 

A-Park Program

A-Park program is our nationwide reforestation initiative, and part of Aboitiz Group’s contribution to greening efforts for a healthier Philippine ecosystem! We partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to carry out this program in several of our places of operation, where we saw dying and degraded forestlands.

Part of this program was our commitment to plant 9 million trees by the end of 2020 — which we greatly surpassed, planting 11.73 million! A large contributor to this achievement was our partnership tree-growing project with Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., and our carbon sink program of Therma South, Inc.

Though we met our initial goal with flying colors, we don’t intend to stop here. We continue this project and our contributions to reforestation each year, having group-wide and simultaneous tree planting activities with the help of our team members, host communities, and people’s organizations.

We even make sure that the trees we plant aren’t just helpful for our planet’s health, but also the wellbeing of our host communities! In the A-Park program, we have partner-beneficiaries, to whom we give fruit-bearing trees (such as the 250 lanzones seedlings gifted to local farmers) to supplement their income each harvest season.

Aboitiz’s No Impact Challenge

Environmental programs don’t always have to be huge orders coming from the top down — we know that we can make a valuable impact on sustainability and environmental protection as individuals, too! 

Those on our team have crafted member-driven programs, such as the Aboitiz “No Impact” Challenge, which encourages other team members to make impactful lifestyle changes. Even small ones can help reduce their carbon emission and water consumption in daily routines. 

We even used this program to foster the healthy spirit of competition group-wide — in 2018, hundreds of team members engaged in a month-long marathon of sustainability to show the fruits of their new lifestyles. And yes, while we did end up crowning three winning teams, above that was the message that resounded with our teams: the little things we do, do matter to our home. 

Ecosystem-Based Biodiversity Management

Going beyond curated programs between our host communities and the Aboitiz family, we have always been a pioneer of envi-sensitive planning. In each development we make, we always make sure to preserve as much of the natural beauty as we can, and deliberately design our operations to peacefully coexist with the area’s ecosystem.

One of our biggest examples of this dedication of ours is the Seafront Residences, and how the marine ecosystem of that area continues to flourish, even with our continued operations. 

Before we even started developing in this area, we made sure to make thorough environmental impact assessments, and how to properly manage the different flora and fauna species that lived here. 

We used this knowledge while designing Seafront Residences, and went a step further by creating Aboitiz Cleanergy Park, an eight-hectare ecological preserve also known as the Pawikan Rescue Center of Davao City.

This area is specially dedicated to indigenous flora and fauna, including the critically endangered Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), endemic and migratory birds, and countless marine species. Here, we’ve found over forty turtle nests, released over four thousand pawikan hatchlings, and rescued six mature pawikans.

Key Takeaway

As climate change continues to affect our lives, as well as the fate of all other species around the planet, we at Aboitiz Group continue to do our part to help. Through these environmental programs in the Philippines, we hope to not just protect our home — but also strengthen it for the next generation of Filipinos!

While these are some of our biggest programs, we take many steps to ensure that our environmental impact is positive, throughout all the Aboitiz Group activities. Click here to read more about our other programs and projects.