Aboitiz Group’s sustainability efforts are anchored in doing well by doing good, making the right long-term decisions that balance the interests of people, planet, and profit.
For the group, sustainability is not a cost of doing business but is a way of doing business.
On the operations side, Aboitiz appreciates the importance of taking care of the environment and has initiated better processes and systems that recognize this.
The well-being of its team members are taken into account and Aboitiz adheres to strict standards, and constantly improves the conduct of its operations to ensure a safe workplace.
The group also complies with Energy Regulation 1-94, which requires companies to allocate funds for the benefit of their host communities to protect both the natural environment and the people living in the area.
“We remain committed to growing our business in a manner that has the least adverse effect on the environment, people, and communities,” Aboitiz said in its sustainability briefer.
But beyond all the compliance measures, Aboitiz has its own initiatives that make its sustainability efforts more meaningful.
The group’s A-Park represents its contribution to reforestation and support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal on climate action. Through these initiatives, the group’s host communities, partners, and team members have planted 6.6 million trees nationwide as of 2018.
By the end of 2020, the group should have planted 9 million trees.
Another initiative is the Race to Reduce (R2R) program, which continuously monitors the consumption of power, water, and paper in its business units.
Through this, and the Aboitiz version of the No Impact Project global initiative, the group has displaced 268 tons of carbon equivalent.
In 2018, the group developed a unified waste management framework: Wealth Out of Waste, which aims to increase efficiency, engagement, and even revenue.
Aboitiz has also developed its own biodiversity programs.
A showcase program is the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park, an eight-hectare ecological preserve located in Davao City.
Known as an urban-based biodiversity conservation site, it is home to the critically endangered Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), endemic and migratory birds, and marine species.
In 2018, the Aboitiz Group and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources signed a memorandum of agreement for the Group to adopt and revive Wetland #4, one of nine across Boracay Island.
The three-year project will convert the one-hectare lagoon into a linear urban park. One of the key features is a plaza, and around it will be a boardwalk with trees and plants endemic to Boracay to help rebuild the land’s biodiversity.
The Cleanergy Park, a partnership project of Davao Light and the Aboitiz Foundation, is an Aboitiz Better World initiative that models an urban-based habitat conservation and biodiversity management. In addition to being a turtle sanctuary, it has become a bird sanctuary with more than 70 discovered species, a haven for different species of trees, fish thriving in its mangrove forest, a fish sanctuary, seagrass beds and coral reefs.
In 2017, the Aboitiz Cleanergy Park was recognized by the city government of Davao City for its contribution to environment protection and conservation.
