BDO’s sustainable finance gets support

BDO Unibank Inc.’s Sustainable Finance Framework was endorsed by Sustainalytics, a leading independent environmental, social and governance research and ratings provider based in New York.

Sustainalytics said in its opinion “BDO’s Sustainable Finance Framework is credible and impactful, and aligns with the Sustainability Bond Guidelines in 2018, Green Loan Principles 2020 and the ASEAN Sustainability Bond Standards 2018.”

The bank’s sustainable finance initiatives began with the establishment of the Social and Environmental Management Systems policy in 2010 with the assistance of the International Finance Corp. The SEMS guidelines cover social and environmental impact assessment and risk categorization of borrowers.

BDO also set up a sustainable finance desk that initially focused on financing renewable energy projects and expanded the scope to include all forms of sustainable practices including energy efficiency, climate-smart agriculture, green infrastructure and clean transportation.