The week opened on June 23 at the SEC Headquarters in Makati City, with an in-depth training session on the Philippine Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Guidelines (SFTG).
Embedding sustainability into financial practice
The workshop, co-hosted with the World Bank Group, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and International Finance Corp., introduced participants to global standards on sustainable finance taxonomy and offered a detailed walkthrough of the SFTG’s framework.
“This training is not just about understanding a new framework. It is about embedding sustainability into the heart of financial practice,” said SEC Chair and CEO Francis Ed. Lim during his opening remarks.
The session featured practical exercises using sample transactions and taxonomy mapping to guide financial institutions in assessing sustainability-linked investments.
A panel discussion moderated by Sustainable Finance Institute Asia CEO Eugene Wong followed, with insights from:
Rhodora M. Brazil-De Vera, ESG head at Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Wei Yuan, Sustainable Banking Network Asia coordinator
Marla G. Alvarez, VP and head of sustainability at BDO Unibank Inc.
Green investment pathways
On the second day, the SEC, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), hosted a session on sustainable investments for non-bank financial institutions or NBFIs, targeting a sector that is both underutilized and highly influential in green finance mobilization.
This initiative draws from the Capacity Assessment of NBFIs to Finance Nature-Based Solutions, part of UNDP’s Accelerating Green and Climate Finance in the Philippines project.
The study found that almost half of NBFIs are "cautious practitioners"—entities that have initiated sustainable finance measures but are hesitant to scale due to risk aversion and unclear incentives.
The session featured a high-impact panel titled "Navigating the Path to Green Finance Success", moderated by Bonar Laureto, Climate Change and Sustainability Partner at SGV & Co. Panelists included:
Agnes De Jesus, VP and chief sustainability officer at First Philippine Holdings
Jomar Lacson, head of macroeconomics and sustainability research at ATRAM
Sophia Ong, chief marketing officer at ecoCarbon Capital Group
Jojo Joson, country manager of Kennemer Eco Solutions
Mohamed Shahidh, UNDP Country Economist
Bridging financing gaps, mobilizing private capital
Their discussion centered on bridging financing gaps, mobilizing private capital, and enabling NBFIs to transition from cautious to catalytic roles in nature-based and climate-aligned investments.
“As financial intermediaries and facilitators of investment flows, NBFIs are uniquely positioned to catalyze change—not just in markets, but in the communities and ecosystems that need it most,” said SEC Commissioner McJill Bryant T. Fernandez in his closing remarks. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
