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ECCP fetes 2022 sustainability awardees

PIXABAY

Unilever Philippines won the Waste Management Award category of the Europa Awards 2022 by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP). This, on the heels of an investigative report by Reuters that said the multinational has worked to undercut laws aimed at eliminating sachets in at least three Asian countries: the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and India.  

The other winners announced June 23 were as follows: 

  • Clean and Green Energy Award — Vivant Foundation, Inc.
  • Energy Efficiency and Conservation Award — Mondelez Philippines
  • Green and Inclusive Finance Solutions Award — ENGIE Services Philippines
  • Green Buildings Award — Union Bank of the Philippines
  • Green Workforce Award — Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.
  • Smart and Safer Mobility Award — Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation
  • Startup for Sustainability 2022 Award — Ampersand Design Think Lab Corp.
  • Water Resource Management Award — Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI)

“We view each company we work with as a ‘barangay,’” said Barbara Kitane, CEO and founder of Ampersand Design Think Lab, a branding, design, and publishing studio with a focus on sustainability and culture for corporations. “We believe that leadership is responsible to guide and raise the barangay, according to universally accepted living standards sensitive to local and cultural contexts of a life well-lived.” 

Securing and committing the required capital for decarbonization can be a main barrier to it, said Louella Caridad, general manager of ENGIE Services Philippines, which designs and implements energy efficient technological solutions.   

“With ENGIE fronting the financing required to implement our low-carbon solutions, we fully de-risk the sustainability journey for clients, accelerating their move from intent to action,” Ms. Caridad said.  

According to ECCP president Lars Wittig, it received about 85 initial entries this year. 

“The number of entries we received demonstrates the growing commitment of the business community to adopt sustainable business practices in their core operations and strategies,” Mr. Wittig said, adding the Chamber hopes “the Europa Awards will serve as an instrument to promote and strengthen stakeholders’ commitment and efforts in light of the urgency of sustainability.”  

Winners in each category received a trophy designed by designers Rita Nazareno and Gabriel Lichauco of Nazareno/Lichauco for Zacarias1925, a brand that places a contemporary thrust in the traditional craft of hand-weaving. 

SGV & Co. was the official tabulator for the awards.  

ECCP also launched on June 23 the second edition of its Sustainability Whitebook, which contains its policy recommendations on ten thematic areas: mobility, energy efficiency, clean energy, waste management, agriculture, finance, green buildings, green workforce, sustainability for start-ups, and water management. The Whitebook includes how these policy advocacies are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Philippine Development Plan.  

The ECCP is a bilateral foreign chamber that promotes European interests in the Philippines and vice versa. — Patricia B. Mirasol

In Ecuador’s Amazon, solar panels bring ‘fire canoe’ dream to life

KARASOLAR.COM

TENA, Ecuador — Ecuador’s rainforest Achuar people say their ancestors long dreamed of a “fire canoe” or “electric fish” that would let them move swiftly along the region’s winding rivers, to more easily reach other distant Achuar communities in the largely roadless jungle. 

Now, the arrival of solar-powered boats is turning an old myth into a modern reality. 

Three solar boats — an Achuar design topped with protective roofs covered in solar panels — now ply a 67-kilometer stretch of the Pastaza and Capahurari rivers in Achuar territory, connecting nine indigenous communities. 

The craft have allowed communities without previous access to motorized boats to travel more swiftly, and others that had been using diesel engines to cut costs, move quietly and better protect their waterways from pollution. 

“The solar-paneled canoes have been a huge help in connectivity, especially for the most (economically) vulnerable families,” said Oscar Mukucham, 22, who saw a first pilot solar canoe as a teenager and now is employed building them for Kara Solar, the manufacturer. 

“We have this dream as Achuar people to conserve our waterways,” he added. “The boats are a huge connective force in our lives.” 

Oliver Utne, the founder of Kara Solar, a solar-powered river transport, energy and community enterprise in the Amazon, said the idea for the solar craft emerged about a decade ago. 

“We initially started talking about solar-paneled boats as a joke,” he said. “We just thought it would be too technically challenging.” 

But when Mr. Utne, an American, traveled home to the United States in 2013, he met with professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who carried out a feasibility study. 

They said that with the right batteries the canoes could work. 

Today the boats, which carry up to 20 people and cost $30,000 to $40,000 each to build, use roof solar panels to collect power, which is stored in a battery. 

A fully loaded craft can travel at speeds of 15–20 kilometers per hour (9–12 miles per hour) for 60-100 km (37–60 miles) on a full battery charge, Mr. Utne said. 

Funding to provide the riverboats free of charge to indigenous communities has come from US-based philanthropies focused on tech, sustainability and indigenous land protection. 

The boats, built by indigenous people in collaboration with Kara Solar, have allowed the communities to move critical supplies and access services over a wider area. 

With a swifter and cost-free way to travel, Achuar groups can also afford to travel more for pleasure, Mr. Mukucham said. 

The Sharamentsa and Napurak communities, for instance, have started hosting inter-communal sport games that were previously not possible because of high fuel costs for boat motors. 

The solar boats also have allowed indigenous communities to more easily, frequently and inexpensively patrol their land for invasions by illegal loggers. 

In the early days of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the provincial government built a new road into Achuar territory, spurring a “balsa boom” as outsiders arrived to cut balsa trees, whose wood is used in the manufacture of wind turbines. 

The Sharamentsa Achuar have used their solar-powered canoes to monitor their stands of balsa and identify those illegally harvesting wood, Mr. Utne said. 

That is key as Ecuador’s Amazon region faces worsening deforestation pressures as a result of expansion of mining, oil drilling and logging, and as indigenous communities step up efforts to protect their land. 

Since the turn of the century, Ecuador has lost about 900,000 hectares of tree cover, a 4.7% decline, according to Global Forest Watch — the equivalent of 1.6 million football pitches. 

FROM MYTH TO MANUFACTURING
The introduction of solar canoes in Achuar territory has been particularly apt as it marries traditional culture and modern technology, backers say. 

In the Achuar worldview, dreams shape people’s vision of the world and inform how they should behave in the future — and Achuar tales passed down from ancestors have long spoken of a future with “fire canoes” or “electric fish” as transport. 

When solar canoes were first discussed, “it was clear that something in the Achuar myths was seen as connected to this project,” Mr. Utne said. “People would say, ‘Oh yes, I’ve seen this in a dream.’” 

His firm’s name — Kara Solar — comes from the Achuar term for “a dream that is coming true”. 

Mr. Utne’s firm hopes to see its solar canoes eventually used in broader areas of the Amazon, a region where river transport is far more common than road travel. 

The company has philanthropy-backed projects under development in nearby Brazil, Suriname, French Guiana, and Peru, and as far away as the Pacific’s Solomon Islands, in each case with indigenous groups sharing designs and technology, Mr. Utne said. 

“It is about indigenous-to-indigenous training,” said Mr. Mukucham, who helps build the Achuar canoes. “Our dream is to spread this and strengthen this capacity within other communities.” 

Mr. Utne said he’s aware that manufacturing solar panels requires mining rare metals — something that can be a threat to indigenous forests. 

But “for us the question is, ‘If these resources are going to be mined, how should we put them to use?’” he said. “We think a solar-paneled boat transporting people along the river of their territory is as good a use as there can be.” — Melissa Godin/Thomson Reuters Foundation

BusinessWorld Roundtable: “The View from the Starting Line”

The Cabinet under the next administration is bringing in experienced officials who will be at the forefront of managing and planning the Philippine economy. Among these appointed officials, Arsenio M. Balisacan, a former socioeconomic planning secretary from 2012 to 2016, is appointed to once again head the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

On June 27, 11 a.m, BusinessWorld, the country’s most trusted business newspaper, and multimedia content provider will be airing the virtual BusinessWorld Roundtable: “The View from the Starting Line” featuring the incoming NEDA Chief Arsenio M. Balisacan.

Listen to Mr. Balisacan as BusinessWorld editors will have the opportunity to ask him further about the economic plans and policies he will push through with the next administration, as well as how the NEDA under his leadership will address existing socio-economic issues in the country.

BusinessWorld Roundtable: “The View from the Starting Line” will be shown live and free on BusinessWorld and The Philippine STAR’s Facebook pages.

#BusinessWorldRoundtable is presented by BusinessWorld, with AG&P Global and Meralco.

Food export bans, from India to Argentina, risk fueling inflation

REUTERS

MUMBAI/BUENOS AIRES/LONDON — It only took 24 hours last month for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in India — the world’s second-largest producer of wheat — to shelve its plans to “feed the world.” 

In April, Mr. Modi had said publicly that the world’s most populous democracy was ready to fill part of the gap left by Ukraine in global grains markets by increasing its wheat exports, following five consecutive record harvests. India traditionally exports only a modest amount of wheat, retaining most of its crop for domestic consumption. 

On May 12, India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry said it was preparing to send delegations to nine countries to export a record 10 million tonnes of wheat this fiscal year — sharply up the previous season. 

But a barrage of alarming data changed all that. 

First came a downward revision to India’s wheat crop in early May as a sudden heatwave hammered yields. Then data on May 12 showed inflation in the nation of 1.4 billion had jumped to a near eight-year high due to higher food and fuel prices, driven by the Ukraine war. 

Alarmed by rising inflation, which had contributed to toppling the previous Congress party government in 2014, Mr. Modi’s office told the Ministry of Commerce on May 13 to put the “brakes on” wheat exports immediately, according to one government official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. 

“This (inflation data) prompted the government to issue an order at midnight” imposing a ban on wheat exports, said a second source. 

News of the ban by India, which is the only major wheat exporter at that time of year, drove Chicago wheat futures 6% higher after markets reopened on Monday. 

Neither Mr. Modi’s office nor the Ministry of Commerce responded to a request for comment. 

India is one of at least 19 countries that have introduced food export restrictions since the war in Ukraine sent prices soaring, hampering international trade flows for several agricultural products and sparking violent protests in some developing nations. 

From Delhi to Kuala Lumpur, Buenos Aires to Belgrade, governments imposed restrictions, at a time when the economic damage caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, combined with factors such as extreme weather and supply chain bottlenecks, had already driven hunger across the globe to unprecedented levels. 

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said in April the number of people facing acute food insecurity — when their inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in danger — had already more than doubled since 2019 to 276 million in the 81 countries in which it operates, before the Ukraine conflict began. 

The war — which disrupted exports from Russia and Ukraine, two agricultural powerhouses — was forecast to increase that number by at least 33 million, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, it forecast. 

Under World Trade Organization rules, members can impose export prohibitions or restrictions of foodstuffs or other products if they are temporary and required to relieve “critical shortages.” 

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told Reuters last month he had been in contact with the WTO and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to explain that India needed to prioritize its own food security, stabilize domestic prices and protect against hoarding. 

But export restrictions risk worsening the rise in global food prices: producing a domino effect as a deepening crisis prompts other countries to take similar steps, said Michele Ruta, the lead economist in the Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment Global Practice of the World Bank Group. 

Many economists say the global food crisis is already more severe than the last one that peaked in 2008, which was driven by factors including droughts, global population growth, higher consumption of meat in major developing economies, and the increased use of crops to produce biofuels. 

Shortages at that time triggered protests across the globe, particularly in Africa where food represents a comparatively high proportion of household budgets. 

Simon Evenett, professor of international trade and economic development at the University of St. Gallen, said the assurances in 2008 from international organizations to national governments that there was enough food to go around globally took some of the wind out of the sails of those pushing for export curbs. 

“This time around that is harder to do as we do have a supply hit here in both Ukraine and Russia,” Mr. Evenett said, adding the size of summer harvests in major food producers would help determine how things develop in the second half of 2022. 

Ukraine and Russia accounted for a combined 28% of global wheat exports, 15% of corn and 75% of sunflower oil in the 2020/21 season, according to US Department of Agriculture data. 

World food prices have stabilized at high levels in the past two months as harvests approach. However, there are already some worrying signs with drought in the United States set to reduce the size of the winter wheat crop while in France wheat crops were battered by hail, strong winds and torrential rains this month. 

Dry weather in Argentina — the world’s sixth largest wheat exporter — has stalled planting of the crop and weighed down production forecasts for the 2022/23 season. 

Moreover, the mood in the international forums such as the Group of 20 (G20) is now less collaborative after years of populism and heightened tension between major geopolitical players, Mr. Evenett said. 

“This current situation in many ways is a lot more troubling than 2008 and look at what risks arose then to political stability,” he said. “We will have a very tense six to nine months ahead of us.” 

FALLING DOMINOS
Some countries had already announced export curbs last year, given the tightness in global food supplies. But the dominos really started to fall following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, with global prices of both grains and vegetable oils soaring. 

In March, Argentina increased taxes on its soybean oil and meal exports and has imposed a lower cap than last year for new wheat exports. 

India’s ban on wheat exports came after Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil producer, had already restricted exports of palm oil — an essential ingredient in cooking and baking — from April 28 citing the need to ensure the country had “abundant and affordable supplies.” 

India is the world’s biggest importer of palm oil and Indonesia is one of its most important suppliers. Indonesia lifted its ban on May 20. 

Malaysia prohibited on May 23 the export of chickens from the beginning of this month after a global feed shortage exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine disrupted poultry production and led to a sharp rise in prices for one of the country’s cheapest sources of protein. 

The wave of export restrictions already affect nearly one-fifth of calories traded globally — that’s nearly double the impact of the last global food crisis of 2008, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a Washington-based think tank that aims to reduce poverty in developing countries. 

“These types of measures tend to provoke some panicked behavior or hoarding from the buyers side…that accelerates the price spike,” said IFPRI researcher David Laborde Debucquet. 

The European Union — which includes several of the world’s biggest food importers by value — is urging its trade partners not to enact protectionist policies. 

“The European Union keeps its food exports going, and so should everyone else,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech this month. 

ENSURING DOMESTIC SUPPLIES
Even before the war in Ukraine, Argentina’s government, battling domestic inflation now over 60%, took steps late last year to stem the rise in local food prices. It placed caps on exports of corn and wheat, adding to an earlier ban on shipments of beef. 

After Russia’s invasion, it took additional steps, raising the taxes on shipments of processed soy oil and meal. 

Argentina is the world’s biggest soybean oil and meal exporter, the second-largest global provider of corn and a key wheat exporter. 

A source in Argentina’s Agriculture Ministry, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the government’s priority was to safeguard foodstuffs needed for domestic consumption. 

The export limits established in late 2021 helped to shield domestic millers and consumers from the spike in international prices following the conflict in Ukraine, the source said. 

But Gustavo Idigoras, head of Argentina’s CIARA-CEC chamber of grains processors and exporters, said that despite the export caps and additional taxes, the government had struggled to stem entrenched food price inflation in Argentina, which was already high before the Ukraine conflict. 

In the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, the cost of bread has risen 69% in a year, meat 64% and vegetables 66%, forcing people to change their diets and seek cheaper deals. 

Edith Elizabeth Plou, 39, a shopkeeper in Buenos Aires, had traveled miles from her home to come to the Argentine capital’s large Central Market to get cheaper prices for her groceries, which have spiked sharply over the last year. 

“I work eight hours and the truth is that I often think about finding a second job to cover my expenses,” Ms. Plou said. — Rajendra Jadhav, Maximilian Heath and Nigel Hunt/Reuters

On Japan’s farms, a weakening yen adds to slow-burning discontent

UNSPLASH

YAMAGATA, Japan — Japanese farmer Kiyoharu Hirao has started to add more rice to the mix he gives his cattle in order to stretch his money further as a plunging yen drives up the cost of imported corn used in animal feed.

That makes him worried about the quality of his prized wagyu beef and, along with some other farmers facing similar hardship across the country, angry at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that once held an almost unshakable grip on rural Japan.

“I don’t know how much more people can take, myself included, since the price of feed and other products keeps going up,” the 73-year-old Mr. Hirao told Reuters at his farm on the outskirts of Yamagata city, strains of classical music rising from speakers inside his barn. For years he has used music to calm the cows and ensure tender beef. Now he fears the rice will harm their gut bacteria.

The yen’s slide to a more than two-decade low this year has hit Japan’s farmers hard, making the already high cost of imported feed, fuel, and fertilizer even more difficult to afford. Some, like Mr. Hirao, are cutting costs or taking loans. Some are talking of giving up farming altogether.

The situation has added to the quiet discontent in Mr. Hirao’s prefecture of Yamagata, a primarily agricultural region known for its rice, beef and cherries some 400 kilometers north of Tokyo.

Reuters spoke to two dozen farmers, officials, and policy experts across Japan, including a dozen farmers in Yamagata, at least 10 of whom described discontent there or in other agricultural regions, exposing fissures in the LDP’s rural base.

Polls show Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to lead the LDP to victory in an upper house election on July 10, but the combined effects of inflation and the weaker yen could cost him critical rural votes and weaken his grip on the fractious party.

Once a solid LDP supporter, Mr. Hirao said he started to drift from the party because he felt it did not do enough for farmers. His opposition hardened under former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who advocated for free trade and unleashed monetary stimulus in an attempt to end deflation and boost wages. In the coming election, he said he is leaning more towards the incumbent candidate, who is from the opposition.

Prices are now rising but wages still have not budged in decades. Japan’s central bank, run by an Abe appointee, has stuck to ultra-low interest rates even though raising rates tends to increase the value of a country’s currency.

“It’s just low interest rates and more low interest rates and somehow we get by, but eventually the younger generations get stuck with the burden,” Mr. Hirao said. “I hate all the people Abe appointed. None of them are any good.”

About 1.3 million people, less than 2% of the labor force, work primarily in agriculture in Japan. Yet farmers are a potent political force because the electoral system disproportionately favors rural voters and because agriculture cooperatives, collectively known as the JA Group, form a powerful lobby.

Some farmers in Yamagata told Reuters they feel betrayed by the LDP because it picked free trade over farmers in the last decade, paring back support measures and opening the Japanese market up more to foreign competition. They want to return to the days of strong government support and a more protectionist stance, which was a pillar of LDP policy for decades but has now been partly dismantled.

To win back such disaffected rural voters, the LDP will be forced to deliver more for farmers, said Kazuhito Yamashita, a former agriculture ministry bureaucrat and now research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies think tank.

“As prices of fertilizer, pesticides and fuel increase, farmers will earn less and grow increasingly dissatisfied. Their support for the LDP will gradually weaken,” he said. “The LDP doesn’t want to make an enemy of the farm lobby so in terms of elections, they will have no choice but to back policies the farm lobby wants.”

In response to Reuters questions, a spokesperson for the LDP did not directly address the issue of the party’s support among farmers. The spokesperson said the LDP was striving to ensure all citizens understand its policies, not only those involved in agriculture, and referred Reuters to its election manifesto, which includes a pledge to ease the impact of higher fuel, feed and fertilizer prices, without providing further details.

“The surge in energy and commodity prices are a worry,” Toshiaki Endo, the chair of the LDP’s election strategy committee and a lower-house representative from Yamagata, told party supporters in April. “We’re in for an extremely tough fight.”

Public support for Mr. Kishida recently fell to a four-month low of 48.7% and more than 54% disapprove of his handling of inflation, a Jiji Press poll showed this month.

‘GREATEST RESPONSIBILITY’

Mr. Abe’s embrace of a landmark trans-Pacific trade deal in 2013, which Japan formally signed five years later, damaged the LDP’s support in the rice-growing north, farmers and analysts said. Yamagata is one of a handful of prefectures that does not have LDP lawmakers in the upper house, although all three of its representatives in the lower house are from the party.

“Farmers and agriculture groups were traditionally strong supporters of the ruling party. But over the last 10 years, there are more people who think it’s not good to rely only on the LDP,” said Toshihiro Ooyama, a 12th generation farmer who heads the agricultural cooperative in Yamagata city.

The cooperatives lobby on behalf of their members and invest farmers’ savings through the Norinchukin Bank, which has $756 billion in assets and is a major player in global financial markets.

JA Group declined to comment on farmers’ support for the LDP. It said that rising costs of fuel, raw materials and animal feed were causing “widening concern” among agricultural producers. It referred Reuters to a seven-page policy proposal issued last month, which called for measures to ease the strain on farmers, including government support to expand domestic production of crops used for feed.

Japan has reduced support for agriculture in recent decades, but even so, 41% of farmers’ revenue still comes from government subsidies, more than double the average of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) group of wealthy nations. Japanese farmers charged 60% more than international market levels for their produce in 2018 to 2020, according to the OECD.

Some economists say aging Japan can no longer afford to give big support to farmers. Yet without that support, the LDP may lose its grip on a key group of voters.

“The LDP will just hit a wall,” in Yamagata if it does not extend more help to farmers, said 57-year-old Kazuharu Igarashi.

At his hog shed in Tsuruoka, near the Sea of Japan, he too adds rice to animal feed and is concerned his pork will be drier. So far, he said customers have not noticed. About 80% of his monthly revenue of 10 million yen ($75,000) now goes on animal feed, above his break-even of around 60%. He said he took a loan from a prefectural emergency fund, but is concerned that other farmers will not survive financially.

Like Mr. Hirao, he said he is leaning in the coming election toward the incumbent candidate, Yasue Funayama of the centrist Democratic Party for the People. A former farm ministry bureaucrat, she favors European-style guaranteed minimum incomes for rice farmers.

“The government says rice is at the heart of our culture and the people’s staple food, but production has been liberalized,” Ms. Funayama told Reuters in an interview at her office in Tokyo. “The government has abandoned its greatest responsibility.”

Given Ms. Funayama’s popularity, the LDP considered not fielding a candidate against her, a person familiar with the party’s thinking told Reuters. It only named one with some six weeks left before the July 10 vote. The LDP declined to comment on whether it had considered not running a candidate in Yamagata in the upcoming election.

To be sure, there can be many issues impacting how farmers vote, especially as 70% of them are aged 65 or older.

“There is such a wide variation among the farming population,” said Kay Shimizu, a research assistant professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh who co-authored a book about Japanese farming and the JA cooperatives.

“On the one hand, they have an interest in their well-being, in their livelihood, which is farming, but they also have other interests. Many of them are a lot older, they have social welfare concerns.”

Kazuyuki Oshino, a rice farmer in central Yamagata, said he was asked by three different farmers to take over managing their paddies because of rising costs.

“If conditions continue as they are, things will be hard,” he said. “So they quit.” — Daniel Leussink/Reuters

G7 aims to raise $600 billion to counter China’s Belt and Road

JCOMP-FREEPIK

SCHLOSS ELMAU, Germany — Group of Seven (G7) leaders on Sunday pledged to raise $600 billion in private and public funds over five years to finance needed infrastructure in developing countries and counter China’s older, multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road project.

US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and other G7 leaders relaunched the newly renamed “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment,” at their annual gathering being held this year at Schloss Elmau in southern Germany.

Mr. Biden said the United States would mobilize $200 billion in grants, federal funds and private investment over five years to support projects in low- and middle-income countries that help tackle climate change as well as improve global health, gender equity and digital infrastructure.

“I want to be clear. This isn’t aid or charity. It’s an investment that will deliver returns for everyone,” Mr. Biden said, adding that it would allow countries to “see the concrete benefits of partnering with democracies.”

Mr. Biden said hundreds of billions of additional dollars could come from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, sovereign wealth funds and others.

Europe will mobilize 300 billion euros for the initiative over the same period to build up a sustainable alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative scheme, which Chinese President Xi Jinping launched in 2013, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the gathering.

The leaders of Italy, Canada, and Japan also spoke about their plans, some of which have already been announced separately. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were not present, but their countries are also participating.

China’s investment scheme involves development and programs in over 100 countries aimed at creating a modern version of the ancient Silk Road trade route from Asia to Europe.

White House officials said the plan has provided little tangible benefit for many developing countries.

Mr. Biden highlighted several flagship projects, including a $2 billion solar development project in Angola with support from the Commerce Department, the US Export-Import Bank, US firm AfricaGlobal Schaffer, and US project developer Sun Africa.

Together with G7 members and the European Union (EU), Washington will also provide $3.3 million in technical assistance to Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal as it develops an industrial-scale flexible multi-vaccine manufacturing facility in that country that can eventually produce coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other vaccines, a project that also involves the EU.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will also commit up to $50 million over five years to the World Bank’s global Childcare Incentive Fund.

Friederike Roder, vice-president of the non-profit group Global Citizen, said the pledges of investment could be “a good start” toward greater engagement by G7 countries in developing nations and could underpin stronger global growth for all.

G7 countries on average provide only 0.32% of their gross national income, less than half of the 0.7% promised, in development assistance, she said.

“But without developing countries, there will be no sustainable recovery of the world economy,” she said. — Andrea Shalal/Reuters

Abortion ruling casts cloud over usual cheer at US Pride parades

UNPLASH

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO — People attending Pride celebrations hosted by LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning) communities across the United States this weekend expressed outrage at the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, and a wave of anti-transgender legislation.

For more than 50 years, LGBTQ+ people and supporters have marched on the last weekend in June to celebrate hard-won freedoms. But now many fear those freedoms are under threat.

Pride parades in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Denver followed protests in some of the same cities decrying the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to reverse the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

“This march is going to have more of a serious tone than celebratory, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all,” said Krystal Marx, executive director of Seattle Pride, which drew thousands of people to its parade on Sunday.

In New York City, throngs of people dressed in rainbow colors cheered as representatives of the abortion rights group Planned Parenthood took part in a parade in Manhattan. The marchers held pink signs that read “Together. We fight for all.”

“Everybody please scream for Planned Parenthood!” an announcer called over a loudspeaker. “We won’t back down!” the crowd responded.

The marches commemorate protests that broke out after police raided a gay bar at the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969.

LGBTQ leaders fear the abortion ruling by the court’s conservative justices endangers personal freedom beyond abortion rights. In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Court might reconsider other precedents, mentioning specifically the rulings protecting the rights to contraception, same-sex intimacy and gay marriage.

“The anti-abortion playbook and the anti-LGBTQ playbook are one and the same. Both are about denying control over our bodies and making it more dangerous for us to live as we are,” Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD, said in a statement.

Even before the Supreme Court’s ruling against abortion rights, the LGBTQ+ community’s Pride month jubilation was weighed down by a raft of Republican-backed state laws that specifically target transgender youth.

The measures enacted in several red states bar classroom discussion of gender identity, block access to healthcare to help young people transition, and restrict participation in sports.

In Texas, where Republican Governor Greg Abbott has called for prosecuting some gender-affirming care as child abuse, the line from overturning Roe to rolling back LGBTQ+ rights was clear to Patrick Smith, who attended Houston’s Pride Parade.

“The government should stay out of our private lives,” said Mr. Smith, who attended the event on Saturday with his partner. “Women went first. I fear what could happen to us too.”

Abortion rights and transgender rights were top of mind at San Francisco’s Pride parade, where people held signs that read “Abort the Court,” “Protect trans youth,” and organizers led a chant of “Get your laws off our bodies.”

“It feels like there’s a cloud over everybody who has a uterus,” said Maya Reddick, a high school student attending San Francisco’s celebration with friends. She held a sign that said “reproductive rights are human rights.” — Randi Love and Nathan Frandino/Reuters

Hamilo Coast: Nurturing nature for 15 years and beyond

The current rate at which individuals observe sustainability practices is far from halting climate change. Whether it is reducing the use of disposable items or saving more energy, environmentally conscious activities will only yield significant results if everyone is “cast in the same mold,” so to speak. That said, high-impact global sustainable development lies within the responsibility of the government and large organizations—conglomerates among them.

Understanding such a role, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., one of the largest integrated property developers in Southeast Asia, has incorporated its sustainable practices in its developments early on. Through SM Prime’s Costa Del Hamilo Inc., a leader in the leisure resort industry and the movers behind Hamilo Coast – this premium seaside complex in Nasugbu, Batangas, fosters a tangible connection with nature. Marking its quindecennial year, Hamilo Coast looks back at its milestones and achievements with its core emphasis on sustainable development.

“Sustainability has been at the forefront of our vision in providing a resort lifestyle. We strive to practice both environmental and social sustainability in our operations through our partners and commnunities,” Franklin M. Bolalin, Assistant Vice President for Hamilo Estate Management, said.

Disaster risk reduction

Every year, the country deals with an average of 19 typhoons, with some often resulting in damages to properties and loss of life. Coastal defenses such as seawalls and breakwater structures are often implemented to resist storm surges. In the case of Hamilo Coast, mangrove trees are the key.

Hamilo Coast’s 100,000 square-meter or equivalent to 10 hectares mangrove belt is one of the largest mangrove areas in the municipality. The sustainable beach resort town has since planted 50,000 mangrove propagules, protected hand-in-hand with the conservation organization World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines.

Biodiversity conservation

Apart from disaster mitigation, mangrove trees also benefit the climate by absorbing greenhouse gases (GHGs) and carbon dioxide. This capacity nurtures the ecosystem and biodiversity in the area, providing habitat for a wide array of species.

Hamilo is home to rich marine life and abundant flora and fauna. Its conservation programs and various sustainability initiatives have nurtured and conserved its precious biodiversity. There are about 96 various bird species found at the estate. Among these bird species are the rough-crested Malkoha and the Philippine eagle-owl.

From growing local plants to conducting regular coastal clean-up drives, coastal resource conservation initiatives are active in Hamilo Coast. With the help of WWF, they can increase their fisheries’ biological capacity and monitor their Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)—the Pico de Loro, Etayo and Santelmo coves which are among the three MPAs for Costa Del Hamilo’s Sustainable Development Project. Hamilo has been working with WWF since 2007 monitoring the health and viability of Hamilo Coast area.

In recognition of its conservation efforts, Hamilo Coast was cited by the World Wide Fund for Nature as its longest Sustainability Partner in 2020.

“Over the years, our partnership with SM significantly contributed to the impact we are making in our work in Hamilo Coast. From liquid waste and coral monitoring, to our present work on integrated waste management and food sheds, we hope that this continuing partnership would help us realize our vision of making Hamilo a holistic model of sustainability”, says Katherine Custodio, WWF-Philippines’ Executive Director.

Green buildings development

The path towards a sustainable future is paved with many interventions, including zero waste, dematerialization, zero emissions and resource efficiency practices. For its part, Hamilo Coast makes its intention to be a premiere sustainability community possible by making sure its buildings are designed with the environment in mind.

Some of the estate’s facilities are powered by alternative sources of energy. For example, its lamp posts use solar power more than traditional ones to function. Natural lighting and ventilation are also noticeable in some of its residential areas, which benefits the environment as well as its tenants. Additionally, Hamilo Coast implements a solid waste management plan that consists of recovery of materials and vermicomposting, among others.

Sustainable living

At Hamilo Coast’s core is how a distinct beachfront home can harmonize with its surrounding environment. As people crave for a more relaxed environment, closer to nature and the outdoors amid a work-from-home setup pushed by the ongoing pandemic, Hamilo homes give access to invigorating landscapes, coves to explore and the calming sea.

Fifteen years later, Hamilo Coast has surpassed its reputation as a weekend respite. It is now one of the best settlement options for people looking to live the coastal life in a sustainable community.

 

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Celebrating the purposeful life of fathers

Photo from freepic.diller - FREEPIK

In recognition for standing tall as the pillar of the family, people all over the world celebrate Father’s Day for super dads and father figures. Because they are the families’ frontliners who lead the pack to come out stronger as one, especially through the hardships and adversities faced during the height of the pandemic, many affirmed that fathers deserve to be honored, pampered, and supported exceptionally good this time around.

In the Philippines, Father’s Day is celebrated all-month long of June. Now that the country eases quarantine restrictions over the global health crisis, a multitude of options to express appreciation towards the family’s ever-dependable role models is available.

As fathers’ relationship with their children displays the utmost commitment and selfless love through sacrifices for the whole family’s welfare, Filipinos have creative and innovative ways to celebrate this wonderful occasion of honoring different types of dads.

Dads may talk about how they don’t want gifts for Father’s Day, but their loved ones know better. Finding the best gift for the man the family always look up to is no easy feat. To get started, lifestyle gurus advised people to consider giving presents and spending time on activities appropriate to what their dads particularly like.

For the handiest dad who enjoys fixing things at home, a complete set of power tools for mechanic aid, DIY projects, and house maintenance are guaranteed to impress them. If unsure of what to buy, some commercial hardware stores offer electronic gift cards nationwide to let dads pick their preferred tools by themselves.

Meanwhile, since the onset of the pandemic, most companies opted for flexible work arrangements to ensure the safety of the employees. As most dads work from home now, giving them the gift of comfort is another option, like gifting an ergonomic office chair that provides seat support and customizable table lamps to illuminate the home office and keep dad awake and active throughout the workday.

Technology has also already seeped into the modern Filipino culture. Many, including dads, use gadgets for purchasing, connecting to friends, watching their favorite channels and even gaming. Techie dads will want a better mobile experience in the form of phone accessories. Family members, as a way of giving back to the man of the house, can send funds to their e-wallets or finally proceed to checkout some products on techie dads add-to-cart lists.

For fit dads, a new pair of running shoes would definitely delight them. Some gym or sports equipment would also motivate them to keep their bodies in shape. While most of these dads are also avid sports fans, gift ideas like jerseys, caps and towels are also recommended.

But perhaps, the ultimate gift that families can prepare for their fathers is to buy them something ‘super’. Some social media influencers surprised their fathers with a new ride. While for many netizens, simply ushering their dads to the gasoline station and fueling their tanks full counts as an expensive Father’s Day gift already.

While it’s superb and ideal to buy pricey gifts for dads, getting creative with personalized gifts like letters, a nostalgic memoir or a scrapbook that can let them take a trip down the memory lane will still make dads feel special on this occasion.

For fathers working abroad and away from their families, preparing something sentimental like a Father’s Day dedication cake or a gratitude post online with old photos will keep them looking forward to coming home soon.

Some fathers value the bond of the family over material possessions. Spending this occasion with their loved ones on activities they dreamed of doing together will surely warm a father’s heart.

For foodie dads, family members can prepare a simple breakfast-in-bed meal for dads or take them to their favorite pub, set up barbecue sessions in the yard, treat them to a special dinner feast or organize a formal date night with mom on a yacht.

Some dads want to break the mundane of their daily work hustle by spending time with their families on a getaway out of the city. On this occasion, helping them organize outdoor activities such as hiking, trekking, camping, and stargazing — buzzwords of an adventurous father — can drive them to continue doing what they want amidst on doing what they needed to do for the family.

But for many dads, the everyday display of love, time and respect in their family is what really matters.

For a lot of Filipinos, simple yet engaging family activities like card and board games by the living room floor, a movie marathon at the couch, watching a ball game together, tending the backyard, taking small road trips on the way home from the grocery store, or singing and dancing in front of the karaoke, remain to be the best ways to celebrate the purposeful life of a father. — Allyana A. Almonte

Deeper roles of fatherhood

Photo from PEXELS

The roles of a father have long been transformed and expanded from the traditional roles of a breadwinner and a disciplinarian in the family into a more diverse set of roles, which include being a caregiver and a mentor. Especially at this time when many parents have learned further to balance work and parenting duties within a single space, their homes, the stereotypes of what a father is and should be are much more refuted.

In fact, the profile of a father has changed through time, as the American Psychological Association (APA) noted. “He can be single or married; externally employed or stay-at home; gay or straight; an adoptive or step-parent; and a more than capable caregiver to children facing physical or psychological challenges,” the APA wrote on its website.

APA attributes such change to two factors, one of which is economic trends. “Two to three centuries ago, fathers’ roles were primarily to serve as breadwinners and the conveyers of moral values and religious education to their children,” the association explained. “However, with the advent of industrialization and urbanization and as factories emerged as major sources of employment, fathers became distanced from the household and their families.”

Such circumstances are coupled, however, with the changing economic role of women as more of them get employed and their financial power has increased.

“In tandem with the growing autonomy of women, related trends such as declining fertility, increasing rates of divorce and remarriage, and childbirth outside of marriage have resulted in a transition from traditional to multiple undefined roles for many fathers. Today’s fathers have started to take on roles vastly different from fathers of previous generations,” APA observed.

Alongside those economic trends, research on child development was observed to have increasingly focused on fathers in the last 20 to 30 years.

APA highlighted a study conducted by United States’ National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which found that fathers tended to be more involved in caregiving when they worked fewer hours than other fathers; had positive psychological adjustment characteristics like high self-esteem and lower levels of depression and hostility; when mothers worked more hours than other mothers; when mothers reported greater marital intimacy; and when children were boys.

“Other research on the role of fathers suggests that the influence of father love on children’s development is as great as the influence of a mother’s love. Fatherly love helps children develop a sense of their place in the world, which helps their social, emotional and cognitive development and functioning,” the association added.

Notably, a study published in the International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications in 2018 delved into the role of Filipino fathers as caregivers. The study interviewed 16 Filipino fathers based in south-central Mindanao who served as the primary caretakers of their children while their wives were working outside the Philippines.

The authors noted from their analysis of the respondents’ interviews that in fulfilling their caregiving roles, these fathers are deeply involved in maintaining the hygiene of their children, as well as in preparing their meals, guiding them in their studies, and attending to them in their sickness — which the fathers considered as the most difficult part of their duty.

“Fathers claimed they did everything for their children. This responsibility started the moment they woke up until they retired at night,” the authors wrote. “These responsibilities covered not only the concern on their children’s activities of daily living like grooming, feeding, schooling and a lot more, but also the household tasks that were traditionally done by women in the Filipino culture.”

This diversity in fatherhood roles actually got more emphasis in the midst the coronavirus pandemic. As shared in a story published on the website of public broadcaster NPR, fathers have faced the challenge of striking a balance between work and family over the last two years.

Photo from our-team – freepik

“You basically have to shift your role from being dad, to your role being dad, teacher, caretaker, [physical education] instructor, nutritionist, because all meals are eaten at home…. But also kind of finding that sense of balance on how beautiful it was that the family was together for just about all three meals every single day,” one father based in New York was quoted as saying.

Given these enhancing of fatherhood roles, the stereotypes of dads as mere providers and babysitters who hardly help in parenting and household chores are far from the reality.

JR Santiago, founder of the Dadvocacy Community on social media, has been showcasing Filipino fathers who are breaking such stereotypes.

“In doing this advocacy, I see that more dads are breaking the stereotypes and are stepping up to become more involved parents. In the years to come, I look forward to seeing more Pinoy dads not only change the fatherhood narrative but to also help change the world, one dad at a time,” he wrote in an article on the Smart Parenting website. — Adrian Paul B. Conoza

Technology with sustainability towards achieving ESG

Technologies and sustainable practices have both recently become a must for many organizations, and not merely something nice to have. For one, companies accelerated their digital transformation to keep up with the new normal. More and more consumers, meanwhile, value sustainable products and practices of brands.

Yet these two together are also imperatives for businesses in their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance.

Companies’ ESG performance has become more significant for investors. EY’s global institutional investor survey last year saw the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst to ESG, as 90% of the surveyed investors put greater importance on the ESG performance of companies for their investment strategy and decision-making. Furthermore, 74% said that the pandemic drove them more likely to divest from companies with poor ESG performance.

Given such importance for investors, businesses looking into creating or achieving their ESG goals should also look at their sustainability and technology strategies already in place. A report by Accenture titled “Uniting Technology and Sustainability: How to Get Full Value From Your Sustainable Technology Strategy” highlighted the need for the sustainability and technology strategies of businesses to become more compactly aligned to earn a competitive advantage, financial value, and a long positive impact on the environment and society, which could be valuable as businesses now establish bolder ESG goals.

The professional services firm referred to this as a ‘sustainable technology strategy.’ Its research considered that “an effective sustainable technology strategy helps drive business growth and ESG performance.” This is through delivering on three important factors: ‘sustainability by technology’, ‘sustainability in technology,’ and ‘sustainability at scale.’

“Many companies have begun to pilot and scale use cases that harness technology to drive sustainability,” Accenture’s report stated. “There are clear benefits from doing so. In fact, as our analysis shows, companies that adopt sustainable technology to a significant extent achieve 4% higher ESG scores on Arabesque S-Ray dataset — a global specialist in measuring ESG metrics — than those that do not. This can translate into an 11% jump in their ESG ranking.”

Technologies have been considered to play an important role in driving sustainability. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, although technology has caused several environmental and social problems, it could also be a key in dealing with global challenges such as climate change, waste management, and food scarcity.

“We need to harness the digital revolution to drive forward environmental sustainability using a combination of high and low tech solutions. We need to use digital technology to engage and empower governments, companies, and citizens to adopt environmentally sustainable practices, policies, and business models,” UNEP said on its website.

Likewise, all companies surveyed for the said Accenture report believed that technology is ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to meet their sustainability objectives.

One instance that presented technology’s role in driving sustainability from the report is that of the surveyed companies that succeeded in reducing carbon emissions in their productions and operations, 70% do so with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Among other technologies that could also help in emission reduction are analytics, cloud, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The report also considered technologies a key to sustainable value chains, especially as supply chains are responsible for 60% of global emissions, according to the firm. The report added that technologies could also enable brands to ‘promote sustainable choices for consumers’ and help ‘build sustainable organizations.’

But as businesses leverage technologies to accelerate their sustainability transformation, they should also be mindful of the impacts of the technologies they utilized, which would make it seem to contradict the very purpose of their sustainability goals.

Accenture’s report cited that an estimated share of the information and communications technology sector of the world’s carbon footprint increased from 1.5% in 2007 to 4% at present, and is projected to reach 14% by 2040. This is what its concept of ‘sustainability in technology’ could help address.

Making technology sustainable could help mitigate its environmental impact. According to the firm, one way is for companies to embrace green software. 

Furthermore, the firm reminded to consider the human and social impacts of technology aside from its environmental impact. Hence the need for businesses to ‘build trustworthy systems’ that include ‘privacy, fairness, transparency, robustness, and accessibility,’ as not being able to address trust could damage the wider ESG strategy of a company.

Delivering on sustainability in technology, the report added, would also need clear governance structures to be instituted.

The last among the factors of an effective sustainable technology strategy from Accenture’s report is scaling sustainability by engaging ecosystem partners, as one organization cannot tackle global sustainability issues and make an impact at scale alone by itself.

As organizations enhanced their efforts towards achieving their sustainability goals with technologies, it could somehow impact their ESG performance, which, as mentioned earlier, has become more important for investors. However, PwC’s global investor survey in 2021 saw that only one-third of investors (33%), on average, deemed the quality of ESG reporting they see is ‘good.’ In solving this issue, therefore, technologies could once again serve a critical role or revolutionize another aspect of how businesses deal with ESG. — Chelsey Keith P. Ignacio

Revolutionizing ESG reporting through digital solutions

Large and public organizations treat environmental, social, and governance (ESG) as a major strategic imperative for businesses today. Market research shows how companies make long-term commitments now more than ever to help address climate change; stir social empowerment; and improve policies for worker safety, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Overseas, small and large companies publish reports about their ESG initiatives. Locally, companies need to comply with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines for Publicly Listed Companies on a “comply or explain” basis, as part of efforts to help them assess and manage their economic, environmental and social impacts in the country.

However, many organizations struggle to embrace the ESG mandate. Experts noted that companies can streamline their journey in ESG reporting using technology to revolutionize the traditional sustainability management through the automation of existing processes, intelligence and data-driven insights, and revving-up communication between a company and its various stakeholders.

As early as 2018, a World Economic Forum report presented that ESG data is becoming more fragmented and technology can provide auditable records for insight and visibility by helping companies to illustrate their performance and enabling investors to make informed decisions.

To provide transparency to investors and employees, build trust in communities, go deeper and act faster in innovating the brand, other companies have worked with digital solution providers to develop tech-enabled ESG record-keeping. They build efficient data centers that create a structure for reporting designed for each stakeholder by simply identifying which information to collect and defining methodology and performance indicators.

Meanwhile, as ESG data is often scattered across various locations, experts suggest that companies must digitize and automate the entire process of last-mile data collection and trace the data back to its source. By doing this, organizations can account for the credibility of the report and minimize the amount of cost and time spent on data gathering.

According to SEC, in reporting sustainability and non-financial issues, companies should adopt any of the following globally recognized frameworks: the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards; the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC) Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework; the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s (SASB) Sustainability Accounting Standards; and, the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).

Due to an exponential increase in the number of frameworks, experts advise companies to create an agile mechanism that can help them to scale their ESG reporting to these different standards.

Business analytics provider S&P Global Market Intelligence reported more than 30 technology trends that can transform ESG reporting and how these technologies, in return, will also play a more subtle role across the palette of sustainability narrative over the coming years.

They added that technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), the cloud, customer-employee experience technologies, cybersecurity, data management, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are all influencing the ESG reporting in distinct ways, to varying extents and at different speeds.

With technologies’ potential longstanding impacts on ethical consumerism, talent strategies, consumer data privacy and dependence on ‘smart’ technology, the business analytics provider reminds companies, technology suppliers, and public policymakers to look closer and take note on how technological choices today can impact sustainability goals in the future.

Overall, market analysts encourage business leaders to innovate ESG reporting using technologies and view it as not just about showing transparency, but a transformation mechanism that can help drive industry and societal change. — Allyana A. Almonte

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