Survey cites RP firms for ‘green’ efforts

MANILA, Philippines—The business sector emerged as the most perceivably environment-friendly in a recently released international survey, which observers said was a result of efforts of firms in the country to actively pursue projects that promote cleaner and greener surroundings.

According to the 2009 Grant Thornton International Business Report, the business sector in the Philippines got a score of +78 percent in terms of friendliness to the environment.

The score is determined by subtracting the number of respondent-firms that described their country’s business sector to be either “unfriendly” or “very unfriendly” to the environment from those that considered it to be “friendly” or “very friendly.”

The respondents based their answers on environment care-related projects they know that were implemented by many businesses in the country.

According to Punongbayan & Araullo, a tax and business advisory firm in the country that has a tie-up with Grant Thornton, the Philippines outperformed 35 other countries included in the survey.

Others that landed in the Top 5 most environmentally friendly were the business sectors of India, Thailand, Denmark and Finland, which recorded scores of between +60 and +70 percent.

Those that landed in the Bottom 5 were the business sectors of Turkey, Greece, Argentina, Spain and Russia, which recorded scores of between -15 to -45 percent.

“This is a very encouraging sign. The Philippine business community is taking the ‘green movement’ seriously as opposed to just treating it as a fad or a trend,” said Greg Navarro, managing partner and chief executive officer of P&A.

“I think that more and more business leaders are embracing the idea that environment-friendly practices do not have to be in opposition to their business strategies. They can actually incorporate these practices into their mission and build a sustainable business,” he said.

Results of the IBR survey also showed that firms in the Philippines would not mind establishing or pursuing environmental care-related projects if these would adversely affect profitability.

The survey said 64 percent of Filipino firms were willing to undertake such projects despite their impact on the company’s net income, while only 34 percent said they were not.

P&A said many of the companies belonging to the Top 1,000 corporations in the Philippines spent for projects that promoted a clean and green environment. But it likewise said that there were also some firms outside the Top 1,000 that engaged in environment-protection projects.

“Despite the [economic] downturn, profit is clearly not the only factor driving PHBs [privately held businesses], which makes sense,” Navarro pointed out. “At this point, adopting ‘green’ practices is becoming a self-rewarding decision. –Michelle Remo,Philippine Daily Inquirer