Huawei expects Philippine regulators to step up green finance efforts by setting industry guidelines on power consumption and encouraging green investments.
“Huawei sees tremendous opportunities in the Philippines — not only [in the] building of green infrastructures, but also in green bonds and the green economy system,” said Luan Mingming, country head of Huawei Philippines’ Enterprise Business Group, in a July 26 e-mail.
While green finance is not a new topic, the actual implementations and best practices vary, Mr. Mingming added.
At Huawei’s Intelligent Finance Summit 2022, Jason Cao, chief executive officer of Huawei Global Digital Finance, pointed out that digital banking consumes “a lot of resources, a lot of data.”
“Banks are large consumers of computing power,” he said at the July 20 roundtable discussion.
Technology providers, he added, can help banks resolve carbon emissions by focusing on alternatives to issues affecting power supply, power consumption, and power management. Photovoltaic energy (or solar panels), for instance, can be offered as a clean source of power supply. Banks can also invest in equipment with recycling systems for the efficient heat dispersal.
Huawei offers smart management modules that detect peak periods of usage. This feature allows banks to shut down some modules during off-peak hours to save power.
Accessing services on the Internet entails the use of servers in data centers, all of which need electricity to run. Phys.org, a web-based science news service, estimates that the electricity consumption for these centers may grow to between 15%–30% of the total electricity consumption of some countries by 2030. Most electricity is generated by fossil fuels, which contributes to climate change.
Huawei is targeting two types of customers, according to Mr. Cao: traditional banks that are going digital because customer behaviors are changing; and banks in areas without prevalent services such as Africa and the Asia Pacific.
“We are pushing for inclusive finance,” he said.
Huawei counts BDO Unibank, Inc., and Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) among its local clients. — Patricia B. Mirasol
