MPIC joins as Founding Member of A4S APAC CFO Leadership Network by Prince of Wales
PH, SING, AU, NZ among pioneers
Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) joined the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Chief Financial Officers Leadership Network’s new AsiaPacific Chapter as one of its Founding Members.
Announced during the A4S Annual Summit opened via a video message by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, MPIC, represented by Chief Finance, Risk and Sustainability Officer Chaye Cabal-Revilla, along with other founding members, will collaborate with global peers to progress the integration of finance and sustainability in ways of doing business.
“Finance leaders have the distinct advantage of being at the center of all business matters. We have visibility, not just on finance, but we are also integral to risk management and strategy development and most recently, even sustainability,” said Ms. Cabal-Revilla. “As such, I truly believe that we are best positioned to be catalysts for change in our organizations. With Sustainability gaining more and more importance in the global mindset, we at MPIC have been focusing on integrating finance and sustainability in all our business decisions.”
A4S AND THE CFO LEADERSHIP NETWORK
Established in 2004 by HRH The Prince of Wales, A4S aims to make sustainable business, business as usual. The organization works with the finance and accounting community to inspire finance leaders to adopt sustainable and resilient business models, transform financial decision-making to reflect the opportunities and risks posed by the climate crisis and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and scale up action to transition to a sustainable economy.
HRH The Prince of Wales, in his opening message to global financial leaders during the A4S Summit, said, “We simply must seize the current window of opportunity to reimagine our global systems in a way that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of how we operate.” His Royal Highness continued, “My Accounting for Sustainability Project is providing you with the guidance, tools and training required. My only hope is that you can learn from these examples and take heart
from the success of the members of the various A4S networks.”
The global CFO Leadership Network is a unique group of over 60 CFOs from large organizations representing over US$20.7 trillion in combined total assets, with members having a commercial presence across 200+ countries. It brings together CFOs and their teams to develop and scale up adoption of practical approaches which embed social and environmental risk and opportunity into the heart of strategic planning and decision-making processes.
JOINING THE GLOBAL MOVEMENT
With the rapid increase of climate and other sustainability-related risks, it is integral for businesses, particularly in the Asia-Pacific Region, to integrate sustainability into its business operations and strategies. Due to the key risks of extreme weather, countries in the region experience the greatest level of GDP impact.
MPIC President and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim highlighted the need for this movement, “Our businesses are key utilities that are essential to the daily lives of all Filipinos and consequentially need to be secured for future generations. We must prioritize forward-looking strategies in all our operations in order to maintain our role as a reliable partner in nation-building for decades to come.”
As the leading infrastructure investment company in the Philippines, MPIC is taking significant strides to ensure that its businesses are futureproofed for the benefit of all its stakeholders, primarily its customers and investors. Beyond providing essential services to majority of the country, MPIC takes on the opportunity to create programs that increase livelihood, become a staunch advocate for environmental stewardship, among others, and spur advanced economic development in the Philippines — a cycle that leads to inclusive progress.
“As a conglomerate, we consciously integrate collective action into our business operations, as well as our social responsibility initiatives to ensure that our efforts are for the benefit of the entire country,” said MPIC Chairman Manuel V Pangilinan. “If we work together towards achieving sustainability on all fronts, we are closer to our ultimate goal of safeguarding a sustainable and resilient future for all.”
MPIC’s participation in the founding of the new Asia-Pacific A4S chapter is aligned with its commitment to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by managing its impacts, improving its performance, and tracking its progress against the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.