Cebu Pacific recently took delivery of a new Airbus A320 Neo that runs on sustainable fuel, highlighting how the Gokongwei Group is taking a holistic approach preserving the environment across its vast businesses.
A Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee has been established within JG Summit Holdings Inc. to ensure that long term business success which includes leadership in addressing environmental concerns and societal needs. The conglomerate also recently released its 2021 Sustainability Report.
“We looked at our ecosystem and synergies across the conglomerate and proactively embedded a strong emphasis on sustainability, leadership and people development – all these to address the ever-changing needs of our stakeholders and emerge as a stronger business post pandemic,” said JG Summit President and CEO Lance Gokongwei.
“We remain optimistic that we are well-positioned to thrive as we head into a more sustainable future,” he added.
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Here's a rundown of how JG Summit is pursuing sustainability as it grows its businesses during the pandemic:
- Robinsons Land has installed rooftop solar panels in 24 of its Robinsons Malls, which are capable of generating 30.79 megawatts in total. In 2021, solar energy provided over 20% of its electricity requirements, preventing the release of over 18,887.47 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
- Universal Robina Corp's manufacturing plants in Canlubang and in Thailand boast onsite rooftop solar panels with a combined capacity of 7 megawatts, which generated 3,490.83 megawatts-hour of renewable energy in 2021.
- Optimizing the use of water and materials in its food manufacturing, air transport, petrochemicals, and other resource-heavy businesses. The conglomerate continues to find ways to lengthen the life cycle of its materials by finding options to re-use or recycle its food, plastic, and other resources.
- Plastic waste recovery and recycling initiatives, which are currently being set up with business units URC and RLC, together with affiliate Robinsons Supermarket, among others.
- Switching to stainless steel pipes and fixing leaks to harvesting rainwater for reuse, these efforts led to the conservation of 11.5 million cubic meters of water from 2018 to 2021, as well as an improvement of the company’s Water Use Ratio by 49%.
- Robinsons Bank (RBank), the conglomerate has saved 13.5 metric tons of paper in 2021 with the growing adoption of its RBank Digital App, a digital platform that paved the way for branchless and paperless banking.
JG Summit also listed down how it had been taking care of its employees.
- The company continues to develop programs for their upskilling and career development. More than 1,000 JG Summit employees have access to about 16,000 courses, content, and live sessions as part of the JG Summit Executive Development Program.
- In 2021, JG Summit attained a 99% vaccination rate among its workforce, including third-party workers. Its telehealth services have also been successful, having provided 16,430 employee consultations since its inception.
JG Summit said it was working to uplift the communities where it does business.
- In 2021, URC donated 133.8 tons of Granola potato seeds to around 700 farmer beneficiaries in Bukidnon, Davao del Sur, and the Cordillera Administrative Region. This initiative not only helped each farmer earn an average net income of Php 135,000 per planting cycle, it also helped them become more self-sufficient.
- Through its RBankMo, which uses the agency banking or “branchless banking” operations model, customers can open an account, withdraw cash using any BancNet ATM card, deposit money into an RBank savings account and even pay their bills — all without venturing far from their homes.
Editor's Note: Summit Media, which publishes Reportr, is part of JG Summit.
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