Many businesses nowadays are trying to promote sustainability and become more environmentally friendly in order to keep up with evolving market demands, as consumers become more and more conscious of the impacts of their choices.
But while the idea is there, not every sustainability initiative can translate into meaningful impacts for the environment and bring lasting change to the community.
That’s why for lawyer Pete Maniego Jr., senior policy advisor at the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, practicing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles should go beyond compliance. It should be tied to the company’s strategy and embedded in its culture.
“It should be something that you do because it’s inherent in your operation, and it will make your operation do better,” he said during the Inquirer ESG Winners Circle forum held in Makati City on Jan. 28.
Award winners
The forum brought together winners of the inaugural Asia ESG Positive Impact Awards last year, which recognized companies from across the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia for implementing some of the best sustainability practices in the Southeast Asia region.
As one of the judges for the awards, Maniego shared that some of the questions he would often ask participants when they were presenting their projects were: “What have you done to the community? How do they benefit from it? Can you continue doing it and scale it up?”
