Megaworld malls, offices now 100% carbon neutral

CEBU, Philippines — Property giant Megaworld notches its biggest sustainability milestone to date as it officially achieves carbon neutrality for all its company-owned office and mall developments across the Philippines.

In a statement, the Andrew Tan-led company reported that this achievement covers 52 developments, all 100 percent operational, Megaworld-owned commercial properties located in the company’s various townships nationwide.

Based on data compiled by Megaworld in partnership with Diligent, a global leader in leader in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), the company’s gross carbon emissions from operational Megaworld-owned properties accounted for about 69,000 metric tons in 2023, 98 percent of which came from electricity consumption (Scope 2), while the rest were from fuel consumption (Scope 1). Of this total, 51 percent came from Megaworld-owned mall developments while the remaining 49 percent was recorded from its office properties.

With the company’s recent move to begin tapping renewable energy as a power source, Megaworld was able to offset about 36,000 metric tons of carbon emissions during the previous year.

Through its partnership with MPower, a subsidiary of Meralco, Megaworld is looking into a hundred percent shift to renewable energy for all its company-owned office and mall properties in the next three years.

Since 2021, Megaworld has already planted around 100,000 trees inside its dedicated carbon forests across the country. The company also supported carbon offsetting projects certified by Verra, the world’s biggest certifier of voluntary carbon offsets.

“In the next few years, we will be able to activate over 1,000 hectares of carbon forests in Batangas, Cavite, Tarlac, Iloilo, Palawan, and Cebu,” said Jose Arnulfo Batac, head of sustainability, Megaworld.

Experts say “carbon neutrality means carbon dioxide emissions released by any public or private company’s operations are balanced with an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide they reduced or removed.”

Megaworld is set to tap a third-party organization to evaluate its sustainability efforts further, particularly those centered on carbon neutrality.

“We look forward to achieving carbon neutral emissions for Scopes 1 and 2 by 2035 for the entire Megaworld Group. We also turn our focus on accounting for our full Scope 3 emissions through our collaboration with our ESG Data Warehouse partner, Diligent, for a more ambitious target of achieving Net Zero by 2050. This is our way of continuing to champion our commitment to helping build a greener and cleaner future for everyone,” added Batac.

In 2023, Megaworld launched its groundbreaking company-wide sustainability campaign, MEGreen, to consolidate all its sustainability efforts aimed at responding to the different United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) under one unifying platform.

This program gained three prestigious recognitions at the 59th Anvil Awards, including the coveted Grand Anvil—the highest recognition in the country given to a public relations program in the Philippines—under the Corporate Identity and Corporate Branding Program category.