ALI, EDC, Petron top sustainability, CSR firms

MANILA, Philippines –  Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), Energy Development Corp. (EDC) and Petron Corp. were heralded by Channel News Asia as the Philippines’ top three publicly-listed companies for pursuing sustainable business practices and corporate social responsibility.

The 2015 Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking is a collaborative effort of regional broadcaster Channel News Asia and research firm CSR Asia.

Based on indicators and methodology developed by environmental, social and governance (ESG) and corporate ratings and research provider Sustainalytics, the ranking identifies the top 100 companies in the region with the highest sustainability performance.

It also highlights the top 20 companies and top three businesses per country. Countries covered in the ranking include China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Japan.

ALI was chosen as one of the Philippines’ top three firms because it “employs sustainable land development through active local community engagement initiatives,” the Sustainability Ranking said in its website.

ALI’s large-scale land development projects were assessed for impacts and underwent Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Environmental Impact Assessment Process, the report said.

It also noted the company undertakes due diligence procedures to minimize the impact on local agricultural activities.

Meanwhile, EDC was picked for exclusively pursuing renewable energy (RE) developments.

“As one of the largest geothermal energy producers in the world, EDC is also diversifying into other renewable energy sources, including hydropower, solar and wind power, that together account for 20 percent of the company’s generation capacity. The company’s strategy to exclusively pursue renewable energy leads to a lower carbon intensity than its peers and positions it well to capitalize on future growth opportunities,” the ranking said.

As for Petron, the ranking noted the country’s biggest oil refiner has an environmental management system which is “certified to ISO-14001 standard with periodic monitoring and auditing of its environmental performance.”

Commenting on the recognition, Petron president and CEO Ramon S. Ang said it is an honor to be named one of the most sustainable companies in the country.

“This recognition affirms our commitment to continue to improve the way we do business and make a positive impact in society and the environment,” he said.

Petron runs a 180,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Bataan which is the first facility of its kind to reach the internationally-recognized Integrated Management System (IMS) standard. All of its 30 depots and terminals are also IMS-certified.

Petron is also the first and only oil company in the country to adopt the ISO-14001 Environmental Management Systems in its service station network, ensuring the safety and environmental protection of host communities.

The Channel NewsAsia Sustainability Ranking was launched during the recently concluded CSR Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – the leading corporate social responsibility conference in Asia.