BPI grows sustainable loan portfolio to P191 billion in 2020

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) managed to grow its sustainable loan portfolio to P191 billion amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the natural disasters that hit the country last year.

The 169-year old lender was the first bank to adopt climate and environmental risk preparedness initiatives, dedicating a sustainable development finance (SDF) team to help clients protect their businesses and make them resilient and sustainable.

As of end-2020, the cumulative loans disbursed under BPI’s SDF portfolio amounted to P190.9 billion, covering 355 projects as BPI continued to help businesses become more resilient.

BPI was only looking at growing its P130 billion sustainable financing portfolio by 20 percent last year.

Of the total number of projects last year, 158 were energy efficiency projects, 89 were renewable projects and 108 were climate resilience projects. Its total greenhouse gas reduction reached a total of 28.6 million tons of carbon from 2008 to 2020, equivalent to growing 472 million trees.

BPI’s initiative supports the sustainable finance framework of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

“We encourage businesses to take the critical steps needed to create a more resilient business, to be able to adapt to the times and pivot when the situation calls for it. This is the key to sustainability,” said Roland Gerard Veloso, corporate credit products group head at BPI.

Veloso emphasized the importance of climate resilience and preparedness for most industries as these would help them realize the interventions needed to manage risks.

During a webinar organized by BPI, environmental experts called on businesses to adopt more comprehensive risk management plans and check environmental risks in their place of business to avoid disasters in the future.

Renato Solidum Jr., DOST Undersecretary and officer-in-charge at Phivolcs, highlighted the environmental risks that businesses in the country are facing.

World Wide Fund’s Ed Tongson, on the other hand, discussed how risks are changing and how businesses can adapt to earthquake and the range of technologies available.

Solidum and Tongson recognized the fact that doing business in the Philippines entails inherent and natural risks as the country sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire, aside from being tied to the Typhoon Belt.

Phivolcs records an average of 20 earthquakes daily, alongside other environmental threats such as typhoons that have increased in frequency and intensity due to climate change, flooding, and volcanic eruptions.

Article and Photo originally posted by Philippine Star last February 13, 2021 12:00am and written by Lawrence Agcaoili.