A vital meeting took place last week between United Nations Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion that gave impetus to the important contribution of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in enabling the Philippines to achieve significant progress in attaining the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
When MSMEs link up with social development and business organizations, they participate in accelerating the pace of economic progress. The nexus between economic growth and inclusive participation of the broad masses at the grassroots has been the focal point of the government’s long- and medium-term development planning thrusts.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) became a watchword when a wave of youth-led social ferment prompted leading corporations to establish the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in 1970. Around 50 Filipino business leaders allocated one percent of their companies’ net income before taxes for poverty reduction programs — the first such initiative in Asia — that was patterned after Venezuela’s Dividendo Voluntario para la Comunidad (Voluntary Dividends for the Community).
PBSP’s more than 260 corporate members support and operate nationwide programs in education, health, livelihood and the environment. Through ₱7 billion in grants and loans, the PBSP has assisted 6,200 development projects that have benefited 4.5 million Filipinos.
Two decades after PBSP’s inception, the League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) was established as a grant-making network to fund community and social development projects. In 2010, the LCF co-founded the ASEAN CSR Network with the following organizations: ASEAN Foundation, Indonesia Business Links, International Chamber of Commerce-Malaysia, Singapore Compact for CSR, and the CSR Club of the Thai Listed Company Association.
With the propagation by the UN of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 2000 to 2015, and its adoption of the SDGs since then, leading global corporations, including those in the Philippines, have joined the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) mainstream. ESG reporting has been adopted by companies that recognize the value of sustainability and responsible business practices.
Leading this initiative are publicly-listed corporations (PLCs). As mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2019, all PLCs that have a public float of at least 50 percent are already required to comply with and submit their annual ESG reports in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. Medium to large companies and other PLCs that are not required to comply with the guidelines are still highly encouraged to do so voluntarily, as part of good business practice, and in order to promote mindfulness of social responsibility across all areas of operations.
Three main areas of sustainability covered by ESG reporting are: impact on employees, customers, suppliers and the community; impact on the natural environment, such as its greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation and water usage; and commitment to human rights, labor standards, boardroom diversity, anti-corruption and bribery, executive compensation and corporate governance.
Exemplifying its commitment to end poverty and achieve sustainable development, the LCF has joined the nationwide movement to “prevent wasting and stunting, which can have dire and lasting consequences for afflicted children — as well as the Philippines as a whole — if they are not addressed.”
Indeed, the endeavor to establish an inclusive and humane world starts at the grassroots.