(19 August 2021, Pasay City, Philippines) SM Investments Corporation sealed its commitment as a supporter of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in a strong bid to ensure its businesses meet global sustainability targets.
This was announced by the company in a Virtual Roundtable Discussion on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure organized by the Climate Change Commission on Wednesday.
“We recognize the material role we play in the Philippines. We understand our responsibilities and we commit to using the TCFD recommendations to be part of the solution to climate change,” Frederic C. DyBuncio, SM Investments President and Chief Executive Officer said.
TCFD is a globally recognized set of recommendations by the Financial Stability Board and is one of the frameworks recommended by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) reporting. Joining more than 2,300 supporters in demonstrating a commitment to building a more resilient financial system and safeguarding against climate risk through better disclosures, the adoption of these recommendations helps for more effective climate-related disclosures. These could promote more informed investments and in turn, could enable stakeholders to better understand the financial system’s exposures to climate-related risks.
“Ours is a responsibility to help build and protect our vulnerable country,” Tim Daniels, SM Investments’ Head of Investor Relations said during the roundtable. “Today we refresh our commitment to strengthen the resilience of our communities by signing up as a TCFD supporter.”
SM has consistently taken the agenda of climate change as an integral part of its business strategy and how this creates lasting value for all its stakeholders, identifying UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, Climate Action as one of its focus SDGs. Its Climate Action Strategy advances two priorities that go hand-in-hand: resilience to equip its stakeholders and host communities for climate emergencies and sustainability to help mitigate the climate crisis.
Through SM’s leadership role in UN ARISE, the Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies, it calls for a collective effort to incorporate disaster resilience as a core strategy of its business. Leading by example, it allocates 10% of its capital expenditures to disaster resiliency and sustainability in the design of its malls and integrated lifestyle cities. This includes water catchment facilities that reduce flooding in neighboring communities; science-based designs such as its SM City Marikina mall that sits on 246 stilts to enable it to withstand water level rise; and building the 60-hectare SM Mall of Asia complex 4.5 meters above mean lower low water level, among others.
With SM as a member of the global 50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders project, Mr. DyBuncio emphasized the company’s commitment to looking after the welfare of its stakeholders as an intrinsic part of achieving sustained and inclusive growth.
“For a business to be able to continue to grow and last for many years, it’s very important that it supports the community in a sustainable way. In the end, it’s the community and the environment that sustains the high growth of our businesses,” Mr. DyBuncio said.
Through its banking business, BDO Unibank, Inc., SM is among the pioneers in promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency project financing by putting together a risk-based Sustainable Energy Finance Program in partnership with the International Finance Corporation, the private banking arm of the World Bank.
SM Investments builds an ecosystem of sustainable businesses, strengthening the capacity and resilience of its tens of thousands of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which remain to be the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
About SM Investments Corporation
SM Investments Corporation is a leading Philippine company that is invested in market-leading businesses in retail, banking, and property. It also invests in ventures that capture high growth opportunities in the emerging Philippine economy.
SM’s retail operations are the country’s largest and most diversified with its food, non-food, and specialty retail stores. SM’s property arm, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., is the largest integrated property developer in the Philippines with interests in malls, residences, offices, hotels, and convention centers as well as tourism-related property developments. SM’s interests in banking are in BDO Unibank, Inc., the country’s largest bank and China Banking Corporation, the 6th largest bank.
For more about SM, visit smicweb.smicit.com
Tim Daniels
Head, Investor Relations
ir@sminvestments.com