By Krista A.M. Montealegre,
National Correspondent

THE ENVIRONMENT is taking the spotlight in the boardroom of Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), as the Philippine property giant works on incorporating more sustainable practices in its business to neutralize its carbon footprint by 2022.

Ayala Land has committed to undertake an aggressive carbon-neutral program that will offset the projected 490,000 tons of carbon emissions from its commercial properties by 2022, ALI Sustainability Manager Anna Maria M. Gonzales said in a briefing on Wednesday.

These emissions are generated through the company’s activities such as fuel burning and energy consumption.

Given its presence in 55 growth centers, Ayala Land said the program reflects its commitment to sustainable and responsible property development, recognizing the need to address and mitigate the impact of its development and expansion plans to the environment.

To achieve its goal, Ayala Land is embarking on a three-pronged approach by dedicating 450 hectares of its land bank to carbon forests along with efforts to implement passive cooling design in its developments, and shift to renewable energy.

By the end of the program, the real estate company expects the usage of renewable energy in its malls, offices and hotels to increase to 80% from the current 10%.

Ayala Land is setting aside 4.5% of its land bank to forests with the capacity to hold 68,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent across five sites located in different parts of the Philippines.

Forests sites in Lio and Sicogon are integrated into the estate’s master plan, while the Alaminos site lies north of a BellaVita subdivision. The Kan-Irag and Talomo sites are located in the cities of Cebu and Davao.

And the cost of its pledge to develop carbon forests? Ayala Land is spending a mere P42 million until 2022 — an insignificant amount compared to its planned P88-billion capital spending last year.

“It is very affordable, that’s why we hope other people can do it,” Ms. Gonzales said.

The developer worked with the Center for Conservation Innovations, Inc. for a study to determine the baseline carbon stock in these carbon forest sites.

Through a process called carbon sequestration, the carbon forest sites remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Although forests do release carbon dioxide from their natural processes, a healthy forest typically stores carbon more than it releases it.

The study also identified the best protection and enhancement approach through assisted natural regeneration (ANR) and other methods to maximize the carbon storage potential for each site.

ANR initiatives are activities that support forest regrowth through protection, tending of diverse native wildlings found on site and enhancement planting of other indigenous species.

ALI has partnered with community-based, nongovernment organizations like Pusod, Inc., Soil and Water Conservation Foundation and Philippine Eagle Foundation.

“We believe our carbon forest is not exactly a product but it is still another way of creating value for the environment and for us give back to the communities that have been hosting us all these years,” Ms. Gonzales said.

Ayala Land has been tracking its greenhouse gas emissions among other environment, social, governance metrics throughout the various stages of its project development process. Its sustainability report is reviewed by DNV GL, a Singapore-based global quality assurance and risk management company.

Shares in Ayala Land slid P1.35 or 2.96% to end at P44.25 apiece.

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