Sustainability

Our Climate Ambition

At the recently concluded UN Climate Change Conference, almost 200 countries agreed to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C. This reiterated the need for mitigation, adaptation, climate financing, and collaboration to slow the effects of industry on climate change, with the intention of eventually reversing them.

The Philippines, through its own nationally determined contribution, laid out ways for the government to encourage investments in businesses, technologies, and infrastructure that reduce emissions or help make the economy more resilient to the effects of climate change. While the country has yet to set a net-zero target, it has committed to reducing emissions by 75 percent below business as usual by 2030.

Ayala’s Road to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050

Last October 21, 2021, Ayala Corporation committed to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Ayala aligns its business strategy with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. As such, Ayala commits to set targets aligned with science that cover direct emissions from owned or controlled sources (Scope 1), indirect emissions from generation of purchased electricity (Scope 2), and relevant indirect emissions that occur in its value chain (Scope 3). We anticipate that Scope 3 emissions will make up a majority of Ayala’s GHG footprint. While Scope 3 emissions may be complex to address, Ayala adheres to net-zero best practice and focuses on understanding and addressing the relevant emissions in its value chain.

To develop a net-zero roadmap, Ayala partners with South Pole, a leading project developer and global climate solutions provider that works with private organizations and governments worldwide. Through the engagement with South Pole, Ayala Corporation and its core businesses, Ayala Land, BPI, Globe, and, ACEN, completed their individual climate action gap analysis in December 2021. The exercise highlighted strengths, identified areas for improvement, and surfaced possible quick wins in the near and medium-term for Ayala and its core businesses.

We are in the process of accounting for the full GHG emissions footprint for the four core business units. Once the full footprint is available, each of the core businesses will develop a roadmap with the appropriate emission reduction strategies to address their Scope 1, Scope 2, and material Scope 3 emissions. We shall then identify interim and long-term science-based targets for each of the core business units.

The rest of our portfolio is expected to follow the same process, beginning with a climate action gap analysis within 2022. We are looking forward to completing the full Ayala Group Climate Ambition Roadmap by the end of 2023.

One of the perils of climate change is rising sea levels. (Ayala Land’s Lio Estate in El Nido, Palawan)

Our ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 follows the Ayala group’s commitment to adopt the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD Recommendations). In 2019, Ayala Corporation and its core business units became signatories to the TCFD and are currently working to implement the framework’s 11 recommended disclosures. We have engaged Aon Risk Consultants to determine the actual and potential impacts of climate-related risk and opportunities on our businesses, strategy, and financial planning. The physical and transition-risk study will be completed in 2022. From there, we shall take concrete steps towards mitigating these risks, adapting our processes, and innovating the way we do business to ensure sustainability moving forward. The net-zero roadmap will enable Ayala to satisfy key TCFD disclosure requirements around the strategy and metrics and targets pillars.

Accelerating climate action through our commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is a critical part of Ayala’s sustainability journey. As our concrete contribution to the well-being of future Filipinos, it positions Ayala as a leader, catalyst, and partner for net-zero transition in the Philippines.