Firms urged to reduce carbon footprint
By Lenie Lectura – November 19, 2020
from Business Mirror
In file photo: Geothermal power leader Energy Development Corp. continues its reforestation efforts at Mount Talinis in Negros Oriental. A team of EDC employees and volunteers from partner groups recently planted more than 100 native tree seedlings of the nato species in a portion of the mountain range.
Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. (EDC) strongly urged businesses and individuals to pursue forging collaborative pathways for a decarbonized and regenerative future.
Company president Richard B. Tantoco explained that being regenerative means uplifting EDC stakeholders and the environment beyond compliance, especially in times of crisis.
This mission, he said, helped the company in attaining lower carbon intensity in its operations.
EDC’s carbon footprint, being a 100 percent renewable energy company, is only a tenth of an average coal power plant’s carbon footprint. This is on top of EDC’s efforts to be carbon neutral year after year, with its annual carbon sequestration of 3.9 metric tonnes of CO2 from the watersheds that it manages in its geothermal reservations and carbon emissions of only 865,652 tonnes from its operations.
It has been nine years since the company started reporting on its sustainability performance following the Global Reporting Initiative’s framework.
The framework is set forth by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and seeks to go beyond organizational impact on the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit, extending to how the company intends to create value in the short to medium and long term. Apart from reforesting close to 10,000 hectares of land and planting over six million seedlings in the past 11 years, EDC has been able to partner with 178 various public and private organizations to help restore 96 threatened native tree species—making BINHI the country’s biggest and most extensive private sector-led greening programs.
Another important factor in EDC’s shift to regenerative development is the commitment of its employees.
Tantoco reported a record-high overall employee engagement rating of 91 percent. This was on the heels of a major restructuring that the company underwent in 2019. “Our employees are truly our partners, and these results indicate that they are willing to go the extra mile to support EDC,” he said.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic in the first quarter, EDC sought to keep its facilities running to supply electricity. “Our teams continue to outperform to keep EDC ahead of the curve by not only providing an uninterrupted supply of clean, renewable power to our customers but also by keeping our employees and their families safe.”
EDC said it quickly responded to the pandemic through organizational changes such as work-from-home arrangements and skeletal teams onsite.
Tantoco cited EDC’s experiences during the 2019 earthquake in Mindanao and typhoons Tisoy and Ursula that hit its facilities in Bicol and Leyte, respectively, as valuable lessons in resiliency that helped them cope with Covid-19.
“Our Natural Catastrophe Risk Mitigation Program has enabled us to plan for key risks and implement cost-effective solutions that protect assets that have the highest value at risk.”
