by Suiee Suarez, AboitizPower Vice President for Corporate Affairs
For the second consecutive time, I had the honor of representing AboitizPower in Manila Bulletin’s annual sustainability forum. This year’s forum, held at the University of the Philippines - Diliman, gave us an opportunity to build more understanding about energy, particularly electric power, and its relation to sustainability.
Philip Cu-Unjieng, Manila Bulletin’s Sustainability Project Head, hit the nail on the head when he said that “sustainability” tends to be a catch-all word and concept, defined in many different ways by as many different people and companies. Case in point are the UN Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, which define sustainable development, not just through the lens of the environment, but also through the viewpoints of having economic growth, social mobility, strong institutions, and even affordable energy.
Still, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte made a really good point when she said that the environment is everything. After all, it is not just a matter of protecting, conserving, and restoring the natural world. It is also a social issue, seeing how extreme weather events really exacerbate inequalities in society and tend to overwhelm our institutions. We are completely engulfed by what is happening around us, and so we need to do our share. Everybody has a responsibility.
To what extent do Filipinos contribute to greenhouse gas emissions? Very little. And if historical emissions are accounted for? Far less. But while our accountability to the current state of our climate is low, we must recognize that we all share the same planet, and so we must share in mitigation efforts.
Still, I think that the responsibility must be differentiated. We must have our own timeline and bespoke pathway suited for Filipinos, especially considering the attainment of the other SDGs like reducing poverty and providing decent work, which are both impossible without today’s reliable and affordable energy from a mix of traditional and renewable energy sources. In the spirit of equity, I think we can only abandon traditional thermal sources once commercially viable alternatives are available. Since not all societies started from the same place, our respective energy transitions should occur at different paces.
Energy security and the drive for renewable energy shouldn’t be an either/or, much less be framed as being at odds with each other. Rather, it should be about an “and-and-and” solution and establishing a balance. A balanced energy mix has the advantage of flexibility and adaptability, such that when new technologies are ripe for scaling, our energy system can adapt at the opportune moment.
Given the magnitude and scope of the sustainability puzzle, I agree with Dr. Maria Faina L. Diola, Professor and Quality Assurance Officer of the National College of Public Administration and Governance in UP Diliman, who said that the private sector has a role to play in enabling our local communities to thrive. This resonates with utility companies like AboitizPower whose facilities and assets, along with its team members, reside together with host communities across the country.
We need cross boundary collaboration to make our sustainability efforts, well.. sustainable. There has to be mutual understanding and effort to create programs — whether for environment, education, healthcare, rural electrification, or livelihood — that have lasting value creation, thereby creating programs that can scale and prosper.
Suffice to say, there is really still a lot to be understood about sustainability and all its moving parts.
In the energy industry alone, there is certainly a lot of room for learning and understanding, especially considering how vast our value chain is — from power generation, to transmission and distribution, all the way to our customers. I think this is why we need to continue working with others — within our own ways of working and collaborating beyond traditional boundaries — to gain more knowledge, skill, and empathy. I believe that by increasing our awareness, we will be more empowered to create and adopt personal decisions that will shape our collective future, hopefully leading to a pragmatic energy system and a more sustainable and equitable Philippines.