Philippine banks have been urged to phase out coal lending entirely as a report showed 15 local banks released over $13 billion to finance coal projects in the past decade.
The Coal Divestment Scorecard, published by the Withdraw from Coal (WFC) Campaign, showed that 15 Philippine banks channeled $13.42 billion to coal developer companies and coal projects from 2009 to 2019.
“Philippine banks and other financiers have caused the expansion of coal in the past decade, thanks to their financial services to coal developers and project. Withdraw from Coal continues to urge Philippine banks to have policies and timelines to phase out coal in their work,” said Bishop Gerry Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, co-convenor of WFC.
The Coal Divestment Scorecard, based on a criteria launched by the network of civil society groups, church leaders, environmentalists, and faith-based groups, was released in May.
WFC since engaged with these banks to ensure a participative grading process, an effort which was varyingly welcomed by at least eight banks.
“We, however, appreciate how open the bank has been to engaging with stakeholders in WFC, and believe that its score would improve in future rounds of grading, if only the hopes they shared for a power portfolio dominated by renewables by the end of this decade will be translated into a public position against coal,” said Gerry Arances, executive director of the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED).
He said one of the country’s banks was leading the way in terms of climate action and sustainability efforts. In June last year, BPI established the Green Finance Framework, highlighting its long-standing commitment to fund projects with clear environmental benefits.
It details guidelines for the following with respect to any green bonds or loans to be issued by the bank: Evaluation and selection of eligible projects and management of proceeds and reporting. The framework is aligned with the International Capital Market Association Green Bond Principles, the ASEAN Green Bond Standards, and the Loan Market Association Green Loan Principles.
