PNB rolls out 2nd year of sustainability summit workshops
From Left to right: PNB Corporate Sustainability & Social Responsibility Head Jean Marie Baruelo; PNB Director Cesar Villanueva; Asian Institute of Digital Transformation Founder and CEO Roger Collantes; S&P Global Senior Sales Director Rey Castro; Komunidad Global Services & Operations Philippines Inc. Chief Product Officer Jed Llanes; PNB President & CEO Edwin Bautista; Gaia Corporate Sustainability Solutions Inc. Founder and Vice President Arpit Shrivastava; PNB Financial Management, Strategy and Sustainability Sector Head Francis Albalate; and PNB Director and Corporate Governance & Sustainability Committee Chairman Geocel Olanday.
Philippine National Bank (PSE: PNB) continues to pursue its sustainability mandate as it kicked off the second year of its Sustainability Summit Workshop series last August 4 at the Century Park Hotel in Manila. With the theme, “Inspire, Innovate, Ignite,” the event brought together PNB’s Board of Directors, top management, business heads, and industry experts to mark the beginning of a series of workshops throughout August aimed at embedding sustainability into the Bank’s core strategies and operations.
PNB Director Geocel D. Olanday, who serves as the Chairman of the bank’s Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee, opened the program by highlighting the importance of collective responsibility in future-proofing the Bank. This was followed by a keynote address from BSP Assistant Governor and Chief Sustainability Officer Pia Bernadette Roman-Tayag who underscored the need for financial institutions to become climate-resilient and actively support green financing.
Tayag emphasized three key imperatives: recognizing climate risk in financial planning, embedding sustainability into daily operations, and mobilizing financing for climate adaptation. She also highlighted the use of blended finance models to support ESG initiatives, particularly for SMEs. “Adaptation finance is not just a moral imperative—it’s a strategic one,” she said.
PNB President and CEO Edwin R. Bautista urged the Bank’s various business units to revisit business models by embracing both digital transformation and sustainability as key growth drivers. “To future-proof PNB, we must drive our business efforts while embedding sustainability into our DNA,” he said. “When we combine discipline, innovation, and purpose, we can make it.”
He added that financial discipline must go hand-in-hand with governance and a strong digital strategy to keep the Bank competitive and relevant.
Resource speakers included Arpit Shrivastava of Gaia Corporate Sustainability Solutions, Rey Chelin Castro of S&P Global, Roger Collantes of Asian Institute of Digital Transformation, and Jed Llanes of Komunidad who all shared key insights on ESG trends, climate risk, sustainability reporting, and digital innovation.
The bank has made significant inroads in sustainability in recent years, the most recent milestone of which was the US$300-million sustainability bond offer issued to the offshore market last October 2024. The offering was met with strong demand, as the final order book was more than 3.6x oversubscribed, reaching US$1.1 billion from global investors. Moody’s has assigned an investment grade rating of Baa3 to the five-year bond. PNB was recognized by The Asset Triple A Sustainable Finance Awards for ‘Best Sustainability Bond – Financial Institution’. Proceeds from the issuance of this bond has been fully allocated to development and refinancing of renewable energy projects – utility scale solar power, and battery energy storage systems, supporting shift to low carbon resilient economy.