Makati City, January, 2019. – the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO), in partnership with the Philippine Business for the Environment, and the Bankers Association of the Philippines, conducted the Environmental Risk Management (ERM) Workshop for Banks at the Development Bank of the Philippines Head Office, Sen Gil J. Puyat Avenue, Makati City. The workshop aimed to increase awareness in ERM and how it translates into financial risk for banks. The event gathered 37 key officers from top local banks and finance institutions.

The morning session included discussions on ESG Reporting Guidelines by Atty. Carmela Austria-Gonzalez from the Securities and Exchange Commission, ERM in the international level by Mr. Dan Santos of RepRisk Philippines, ERM at the local level by Dr. Felipe Calderon of the Asian Institute of Management, and Industry Context Perspective (agricultural lens) by Mr. Edgardo Tongson of WWF Philippines. After introducing and building the context around the main topic, Ms. Angelique Laskewitz and Ms. Vicky van Heck of the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) engaged the participants through group conversations on the concerns and needs of Philippine banks. Among this is the reality that while banks have initiatives on environmental risks, there is a need to build capacity and an operational structure backed by a policy that will institutionalize the full implementation of ERM. 

In the afternoon, Mr. Paul Lazaro of the Development Bank of the Philippines, Ms. Jo Ann Eala of the Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Ms. Pauline Angelica Roxas of the Landbank of the Philippines shared their respective bank's best ERM practices. They then joined the panel discussion and open forum moderated by Dr. Felipe Calderon. Afterwards, BSP’s Ms. Rochelle Tomas talked about Banko Sentral’s approach to Sustainable Finance, followed by Ms. Valerie Sioson of MSCI Philippines, and Ms. Marinela Pascua of International Finance Corporation both of whom discussed ERM tools.

To round up the very productive workshop, Ms. Van Heck took the floor once more to summarize learnings and discuss the next steps, specifically a capacity building workshop for banks this November. Check this site for updates.