The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is accelerating its push for sustainable finance in the Philippines, strengthening its commitment through a new partnership and enhanced reporting requirements for publicly listed companies.
It recently teamed up with the International Finance Corp. (IFC) to bolster the 30by30 Zero Philippines Program—an ambitious initiative aiming to increase climate-related lending by financial institutions to 30 percent of their total portfolio, with near-zero coal exposure, by 2030.
This collaboration, formalized in an agreement, will involve capacity-building initiatives for thematic bond issuers, investors and domestic external reviewers. The SEC and IFC will also conduct a stocktaking survey of the Philippine Thematic Capital Market to identify further opportunities for collaboration.
SEC commissioner McJill Bryant Fernandez noted the importance of the partnership in addressing the Philippines’ urgent climate challenges.
“The Philippines faces the immense challenge of mitigating climate change while ensuring inclusive and sustainable economic growth,” Fernandez said.
“Through this partnership, we aim to channel long-term funding into climate-focused initiatives that prioritize both people and the planet,” he said.
The 30by30 Zero Philippines Program, developed by the IFC and the World Bank with funding from the German government’s International Climate Initiative, aims to empower financial institutions as aggregators of climate financing.
It encourages the integration of green finance strategies into investment plans to mitigate climate risks and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
IFC regional manager for East Asia and the Pacific Christina Ongoma, expressed gratitude for the SEC’s support and collaboration.
“We are grateful for our partnership with the SEC and are delighted to formalize our collaboration,” Ongoma said.
“Through this, we will continue to jointly host dedicated technical workshops and training sessions to further enhance the awareness and capacity of the capital market players regarding climate thematic instruments and opportunities,” she said.
Beyond promoting sustainable finance, the SEC is also raising the bar for sustainability reporting among publicly-listed companies.
Revised guidelines, set to be released this year, will be implemented gradually, with staggered compliance requirements across different tiers of listed companies to ensure a smooth transition. While 2024 sustainability reports due this year can still follow the 2019 rules, which employ a “comply or explain” approach, more comprehensive reporting is on the horizon.
The SEC has seen consistently high compliance rates for sustainability reporting since its introduction in 2019, reaching 96 percent in 2023. The new guidelines, outlined in a draft memorandum circular released last October, will require listed companies to submit reports in both narrative and standardized form formats.
To further streamline the process, the SEC is developing a web-based application in partnership with climate data and analytics software firm Komunidad Global Services & Operations Philippines Inc.
“The customized web application will streamline the data collection, verification, management and analysis of sustainability data, improving the monitoring capabilities of the commission on sustainability reporting compliance of publicly listed companies,” the SEC said.
