Bank grading project’ ikinasa ng Green Energy Coalition

NAKIBAHAGI ang mga miyembro ng Withdraw from Coal (WFC) Campaign sa pagpupulong ng  mga matataas na opisyal ng Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) sa pagsisimula ng pakikipag-ugnayan nito sa  mga bangko para sa kanilang  Coal Divestment Criteria at Scorecard.

Ang ‘scorecard’ ay nangangahulugan na sila ang mangangasiwa sa proseso sa pagsusuri kung paano “green” ang bank’s investments ng mga policymakers, investors, at depositors, partikular ang kanilang pagkakasangkot sa karbon, na labis na nakakapinsala sa lahat ng ‘fossil fuels.’

“The Coal Divestment Criteria and Scorecard is meant to provide an honest review system for banks and stakeholders in the fight for coal divestment. While we get most of our data from public sources, we understand that there are some things that only the management of banks can provide. This is why we welcome the opportunity to meet with the top leadership of BPI for an open discussion of their policies and plans about coal,” pahayag  ni WFC Convenor Gerry Arances.

Ang meeting na isinagawa sa pamamagitan ng Zoom, ay dinaluhan ni Arances bilang kinatawan ng  WFC, habang si BPI President at CEO Cezar “Bong” Consing ang nanguna sa mga delegasyon mula sa mga bangko.

“Withdraw from Coal will grade 15 banks on their exposure to coal – how much they lent to coal developers and coal projects like mines and power plants, if they invested through stocks or bonds in coal projects, if they are making steps to address the climate emergency, and if they have plans for divesting from coal in the near future,” giit ni  Arances.

Aniya, ang ‘coal’ ay itinuring na ‘under fire’ sa mga nakalipas na taon dahil sa masamang idinudulot nito sa klima kaya naman ilang malalaking ‘financial institutions’ sa buong mundo ang nag-anunsiyo ng kanilang ‘divestment plans.’

“Moody’s gave coal a negative outlook. The investment firm BlackRock, the bank BNP Paribas, our own local conglomerates Ayala Corporation and the Lopez Group – these are leaders in their fields who now see the light and are exiting from coal. We hope more of them will follow in the future, and the scorecard we are coming up with will be one tool for their use,” dagdag pa ng WFC Convenor.