Photo above shows William Guido, chairman and CEO of DB International, Guido Group of Companies, speaking at the Sustainable Green Tech Forum.
The world is fighting climate change. Carbon emissions, created from burning fossil fuels, are heating up the planet. As Earth continues to heat up, weather patterns will change such as stronger typhoons and droughts among others.
Scientists keep warning that it’s important to take action as soon as now if the planet is to reverse course by the speed of the changing climate.
Microsoft has pledged to be carbon negative by 2030. Apple and Google aim to be carbon neutral by 2030. While Microsoft pledges to be carbon negative by that year as well. By 2050, automakers intend to be carbon neutral, as seen in their efforts for a stronger push for electric vehicles.
*Secretary for the Department of Transportation, Jaime Bautista*
The Sustainable Green Tech Forum, which was recently held at The Manila Hotel, is a bridge for product manufacturers and customers. It seeks to inform and persuade potential buyers how their sustainable products will allow them to save in operational costs while reducing carbon footprint as much as possible.
“Sustainability, while not a new agenda, has a long time been treated as a box-checking exercise,” said William Guido, chairman and CEO of DB International, Guido Group of Companies. “Even as there is active interest among many companies worldwide towards sustainability and environmental, social, and governance initiatives, many are still at the stage of gaining a deeper understanding of what it entails, its implications on business growth and considering strategies on how to facilitate a mindset change within their organizations.”
The forum discussed the benefits of embracing sustainability. Though the primary concern mentioned is how it manages to lower operational costs in order for companies and enterprises to save money.
Among the speakers is the Secretary for the Department of Transportation, Jaime Bautista. During the forum, he talked about the LRT line extensions up to Cavite, the MRT Line 7, which will run from San Jose del Monte in Bulacan up to North Avenue in Quezon City, and the country's first subway system that will run from Valenzuela City to Bicutan. It should be noted that these railways are powered by electricity, thus reducing carbon emissions. The new railways are expected to accommodate hundreds of thousands of commuting Filipinos everyday. The idea here is, with an improved transportation system, commuters will use vehicles less and take the trains instead. Likewise, vehicle owners, instead of driving, are encouraged to commute instead.
*DOST Secretary, Dr. Renato Solidum Jr.*
DOST Secretary, Dr. Renato Solidum Jr. spoke at the forum as well, introducing a number of sustainable technologies being used for the country’s agriculture. This includes a solar-powered dehydrator machine for processing agricultural products and a solar-powered dryer to process white copra. Among the DOST projects are building sustainable beekeeping, since bees are essential to the natural development of the environment.
Speakers from HiSense, Dunham Bush, Truwater, AtmosAir and ProMED USA, and Talkbot, discussed sustainability solutions. These products were developed to emit less carbon emissions and provide cost-savings in terms of power usage.
“The Sustainable Green Tech Forum 2023 is as much a call-to-arms as it is a wake-up call. It is a gathering of the like-minded whose aim is to impress upon the industry the importance and urgency of incorporating sustainability in all our business practices,” Guido said.