The British government is asking more companies to join the Net Zero Carbon Alliance (NZCA) to achieve net zero emissions.
British Ambassador to the Philippines and Palau Laure Beaufils lauded NZCA for being “a strong guiding force toward achieving carbon neutrality in the private sector in the Philippines.”
Beaufils said not all companies have the same capabilities, specifically capacities and resources.
“Some may even feel a bit at a loss on where to start, or how to deliver on a net zero vision while maintaining a decent profit,” she said.
Beaufils said NZCA provides partners with a roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality by sharing best practices, scaling up carbon emission reduction and tracking and providing better access to green financing, among many other capacity-building tools.
NZCA, a pioneering consortium of Philippine enterprises aiming for carbon neutrality as a transition to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, marked its second anniversary this year with the addition of nine new partners in its network.
“Importantly, they provide a network, which enables cross-learning and partnerships. So companies are not alone. They are incentivized, they are supported, they are capacitated,” the ambassador said.
“We will not deliver on our vision for a 1.5 degree world without the leadership and the commitments of all actors, and without partnerships and collaborations across them. And of course, the private sector is at the heart of that,” she said.
The British Standards Institution, CEMEX Holdings Philippines, ECC International, EV Mobility Ventures, First Philippine Industrial Park, Holcim Philippines, Mondelez Philippines, Monde Nissin Corp. and People360 Consulting Group signed a pledge of commitment to carbon neutrality at the annual NZCA conference held recently in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
“Over the past year, we have received interest from numerous organizations and companies to be part of NZCA—a strong indication that many businesses are now aware of the need to step up their decarbonization programs,” said Jerome Cainglet, president and chief operating officer of First-Gen owned renewable energy leader Energy Development Corp. which first initiated NZCA in 2021.
NZCA’s current list of partners include Arthaland, Converge ICT Solutions, Drink sustainability communications, Ecolab, First Balfour, Knowles Electronics, INAEC Aviation, Menarco Development Corporation, Silliman University, SGV & Co and Unilever Philippines.
NZCA also enlisted Eco-Business and Ako Ang Bukas multi-sectoral environmental movement of the Green Convergence coalition as enabler partners this year.
This year’s meet, with the theme “Zeroing in on Net-Zero: From Corporate Pledges to Action”, was organized by EDC in partnership with Eco-Business, Asia Pacific’s largest media and business intelligence organization dedicated to sustainable development and ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance.
Close to 200 delegates from 69 companies participated in plenary sessions with industry experts and representatives from NZCA member-companies on best practices in climate action, as well as existing and emerging solutions to accelerate the Philippines’ private sector net-zero journey.
These included carbon capture technology, green investments and financing, continuing government legislation and incentivization, and greening the supply value chain. The consortium also strengthened its call for vigilance against greenwashing and urged the private sector to increasingly implement measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) in climate change mitigation efforts.