French Chamber urges leveraging of sustainability efforts by industries

French Chamber urges leveraging of sustainability efforts by industries | Daily Tribune

The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Philippines (CCI France Philippines) is urging its members and other enterprises in various industries to be serious in leveraging sustainability efforts to mitigate the ill effects of persisting climate change.

In an interview on the sidelines of La Conference Bleue at the Ascott Bonifacio Global City, Taguig on Tuesday, CCI France Philippines president and Jewelmer CEO and executive vice president Jacques Christophe Branellec said that the inaugural sustainability conference was the chamber’s commitment to a more sustainable future.

“This first sustainability conference sets to highlight sustainability not just for corporations but for individuals moving forward. We all know here in the Philippines how much we are affected by Climate Change, and weather events such as typhoons and floods. We want to use this as a platform to raise awareness on what tools and framework there are that we can use to alleviate these challenging situations that countries, such as the Philippines face,” he said.

UNSDG

Branellec said the chamber wanted to drive the narrative for their members, especially with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).

The event, which the DAILY TRIBUNE is a proud media partner being the country’s only news organization that is a signatory to the UNSDG, provided a platform for knowledge-sharing, inspiration and driving collective action towards more resilient business practices.

The forum featured talks of notable guest speakers who shared their sustainability journeys, advocacies, and best practices aimed at inspiring the community to start their sustainability initiatives.

Under the segment “Walkthrough of People,” Donnel Tiedra of Nestle Philippines discussed how the company uplifted the lives of coffee farmers, and how Nestle made a difference in coffee farming communities through the Nescafe Plan.

Kaye Perala, the human resource business partner of Essilor Group, spoke about the Vision for All project which involves how the OneSight Essilorluxottica Foundation made vision a reality for visually impaired kids in the Philippines.

Likewise, Christine Lei Go, director of Espoir School Life discussed her group’s From Learning to Living initiative, with the Espoir School of Life’s Sustainable People-centered Approach to education and community development endeavor to change the lives of in communities in Siargao.

Sustainable daily operations

For her part, SM Cares and SM Supermalls VP for Corporate Compliance and head of Sustainability and Resilience, Engr. Liza Silerio talked about the strides taken by SM Malls in the latter’s quest to make the group’s daily operations sustainable, such as the use of solar panels for energy conservation and water treatment facilities, making rain potable to tenants and mallgoers.

Jollibee Foods Corporation’s Global Sustainability director Elise Veloso, meanwhile, discussed how their operations follow the UNSDG’s mission through Jollibee’s partnerships in the group’s Driving Our Joy for Tomorrow Sustainability Agenda.

Other speakers who shared their efforts and insights to attain sustainability came from the Save Palawan Seas Foundation, NEO, Havas Ortega, shipping magnate CMA-CGM, Reuasia Management, Agence France-Presse, Globe Telecommunications, Acted Philippines, San Miguel Foundation, Agence Francaise de Developpement in Manila and Mad Courses.

Important economy

Meanwhile, Branellec maintained that French companies consistently treat the Philippines as an important economy, as the country has shown strong growth projection in terms of gross domestic product after the Covid-19 pandemic.