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Philippines’ BDO Unibank first blue bond gets US$100 million investment from IFC

Posted on May 2, 2022 by dishanth

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group, is pouring US$100 million into BDO Unibank Inc’s blue bond, which aims to finance projects that will help tackle marine pollution in the Philippines.

The country is considered the third largest global contributor of ocean plastic, with an estimated 0.75 million metric tonnes of mismanaged waste entering the ocean every year, according to a World Bank study published in 2021.

The coastal blue economy is critical to the Philippines but is threatened by pollution, unsustainable fishing, rapid urbanisation, and the impact of climate change such as typhoons that drag tonnes of rubbish into seaside areas.

BDO Unibank Inc’s blue bond, the first of its kind in the country and a first for IFC in the East Asia Pacific region, is slated to raise money for projects such as water conservation, wastewater treatment, plastic recycling, sustainable tourism, fisheries, and sustainable seafood processing, the global development institution said in a statement on Friday.

“A blue bond instrument will be key to the nation’s growth trajectory. By supporting the first blue bond issuance in the country, IFC continues its tradition of supporting the development of capital markets through issuances of thematic bonds and mainstreaming climate finance in the banking sector”, said Jean-Marc Arbogast, IFC country manager for the Philippines.

“Moving forward, a robust blue economy will help create jobs and alleviate poverty while strengthening the marine ecosystem in the Philippines.”

IFC will also help BDO identify projects that can combat water stress with rapid urbanisation, as more than 3 million people in the Philippines rely on unsafe and unsustainable water sources and 7 million lack access to improved sanitation.

…A blue bond instrument will be key to the nation’s growth trajectory…a robust blue economy will help create jobs and alleviate poverty…

Jean-Marc Arbogast, country manager for the Philippines, International Finance Corporation

The bond will be issued under the International Capital Market Association (ICM’s) Green Bond Principle and IFC’s recently launched Blue Finance Guidelines, a blue-specific framework and metrics that monitor the use of proceeds and report on relevant impact.

“Marking our two-decade partnership, IFC’s investment will be key to helping BDO develop a Blue Finance Framework that will allow us to fund projects that support the country’s blue economy while establishing a new asset class in the Philippine debt market,” said Teresita Sy-Coson, chairperson of BDO Unibank, Inc.

Blue financing is emerging in Asia, with the IFC piloting the mechanism in China, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. Last year, multi-lateral lender Asian Development Bank issued its first ever dual-tranche blue bonds denominated in Australian and New Zealand dollars that will finance ocean-related projects in Asia and the Pacific.

The “blue economy”, which includes livelihoods and other economic benefits derived from oceans, is expected to reach US$3 trillion and employ 40 million people by 2030, giving it critical role in pivoting the global economic system towards regenerating ocean health, said the World Bank.

Source Eco Business

Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi top plastic polluter audit again as green groups slam recyclable packaging as ‘false solution’.

Posted on November 1, 2019August 12, 2020 by dishanth

Food and beverage firms Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and PepsiCo are the world’s biggest plastic polluters, a study of litter found on beaches, streets, homes, and parks in 50 countries has revealed.

The same firms have topped the global plastic polluter audit, conducted by a collective of environmental groups running cleanup operations, for the second year in succession.

This is despite initiatives the multi-national consumer goods companies have launched to address the chronic plastic pollution problem they have contributed to.

Coca-Cola has launched recyclable bottles made entirely from renewable plant-based materials, aiming to use it in all its packaging by next year. Nestlé has a plan to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, while Pepsi has pledged to develop bottles made from renewable resources.

Coke uses PlantBottle packaging, which are bottles made from plants, saves the equivalent annual emissions of more than 315,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, Coke estimates.
Image: Coca-Cola

But these measures do not address the root of the problem – the overuse of plastic by consumer goods firms – and so have not affected their standing in the global litter audit, the campaigners noted.

“Commitments by corporations like Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and PepsiCo to address the crisis unfortunately continue to rely on false solutions like replacing plastic with paper or bioplastics and relying more heavily on a broken global recycling system,” said Abigail Aguilar, plastic campaign coordinator for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, the lead group for the Break Free From Plastic campaign, in a media briefing on Wednesday.

“We call them false solutions because they perpetuate the throwaway culture that caused the plastic pollution crisis, and will do nothing to prevent these brands from being named the top polluters again in the future.”

As part of Break Free From Plastic, a global movement of non-governmental organisations advocating against new plastic production, Greenpeace orchestrated 4,384 cleanups in over 50 countries from August 1 to September 30, picking up 476,423 pieces of plastic. Almost half of the plastic waste was marked with a clear consumer brand.

Other companies identified in the study included Mondelez International, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Philip Morris International and Perfetti van Melle.

The world’s top 10 biggest plastic polluters in 2019.
Image: Break Free From Plastic.

Von Hernandez, global coordinator of Break Free from Plastic, called on corporations to reduce their production of single-use plastic, instead of using recycling or recyclable packaging as a solution.

He cited a 2017 study that found that 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic trash have been produced since 1950, but only 9 per cent of it has been recycled globally.

“Even if all plastic packaging were collected to be recycled, it would only be down-cycled or transformed into another inferior product that inevitably becomes waste, ending up in incinerators and landfill, polluting our oceans,” Hernandez said.

“Over the next 30 years, the amount of plastic waste is set to quadruple,” he warned.

A call for ‘alternative delivery systems’

Environmentalists urged the consumer goods companies to invest in different ways to package their products that do not create pollution.

Unilever’s hair refilling station in a mall at the Makati Central Business District in the Philippines.
Image: Unilever

Unilever, which ranked as the fifth largest polluter in the audit, launched a shampoo and conditioner refilling station in three high-traffic malls in Metro Manila, Philippines in March.

The hair and skincare giant, which owns brands such as Dove, Sunsilk, and Lux, sells many of its products in single-use plastic sachets in developing countries like the Philippines and Indonesia to make its products more affordable.

While environmentalists lauded Unilever’s intiative, they said consumers in the lower income bracket who mostly use single-use sachets will not use the refilling stations.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but malls especially in the central business district are not that accessible to the common Filipino. In our dialogue with the companies, we told them that if they are to invest and introduce an alternative [to plastics], they need to position them where they are easily accesible, like in sari-sari (retail) stores or public markets,” Aguilar said.

“Solutions must be affordable, simple, convenient, durable, and non-toxic,” he said.

Source: www.eco-business.com