Digital technology will have an important role to play in helping enterprises uphold their sustainability goals, according to leading infrastructure investment company Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
Chaye Cabal-Revilla, MPIC’s Chief Finance, Risk and Sustainability Officer, told a recent news conference via Zoom that the company decided to tap German software giant SAP to help it achieve the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), with UN SDG 9, which seeks to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation as its anchor.
Cabal-Revilla said this initiative is part of the group’s sustainability philosophy of integrating business and environmental stewardship in its investment strategies.
“MPIC has always been committed to elevating its sustainability initiatives across the group,” she said.
“We have put sustainability at the heart of MPIC, and it is evident in how we design, build, and operate our business with minimal social and ecological disruption,” she added.
In this aspect, MPIC and SAP share the same vision to create a more sustainable future for all.
“We believe that RISE with SAP will help us improve our operations and augment our sustainability initiatives,” Cabal-Revilla said.
For his part, SAP Philippines Managing Director Edler Panlilio said companies need metrics to measure their performance.
“It is critical for organizations to be able to accurately capture, monitor, and then optimize the sustainability drivers in key business processes enabled by a strong digital core. Businesses need to focus on being purpose driven and impact more than just the top and bottom line but also the green line,” Panlilio said.
To achieve its goals, Panlilio said SAP aims to embed sustainability into its core business processes to deliver visibility and velocity that are required to inform and drive better business decisions through embedded, validated, real-time data in a holistic, integrated manner.
He added that SAP also walks the talk by being an enabler and an exemplar of its own sustainability practices with a clear “Chasing Zero’’ vision.
“We hope to work collectively with businesses and executives to prioritize environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities that support the interests of the broader group of stakeholders,” he said.
Panlilio further said that organizations are compelled to create a greener and cleaner future complemented by greater equality than the current environment.
He pointed out that technology solutions will do the heavy lifting capturing, managing, analyzing, and using sustainability data more efficiently for better sustainability stewardship.
“With SAP Sustainability Control Tower solution, companies are able to gain a greater degree of granularity in reporting, a higher level of transparency around ESG performance, and can identify levers and options for driving corrective and enhanced action that take financial, social and environmental valuation into account,” Panlilio said.
He said SAP has most recently introduced its Product Footprint Management solution that lets companies calculate carbon footprints for their products and across the value chain.
According to the International Data Corp., organizations are enhancing their operations through digital transformation initiatives.
In its “Covid-19 Impact on IT Spending” survey held from October 15 to 30, 2020, the think tank said respondents rate their top organizational goals for this year, with 55 percent wanting to digitally enhance their products and services and 38 percent of respondents wanting to accelerate the pace of digital transformation or innovation.