The International Finance Corp. (IFC) of the World Bank group on Monday said investment opportunities in low-carbon buildings in the country could reach $2 billion in 2020.
In his opening message at the Green Breakthroughs forum, IFC Country Manager Yuan Xu said the Philippines is in dire need of sustainable business solution to tackle the challenges of the country’s growing infrastructure requirements and climate-change issues amid its rapidly growing population and rapid urbanization.
“The way to deliver on this is to create a vibrant market for green buildings that attract private-sector investment,” he said during the Green Breakthroughs forum held in Makati City.
“Green buildings should be the new normal for property companies, developers and investors,” he added.
Xu said the potential is bright as green buildings can be strong entities in getting a market share of 20 percent to 25 percent by 2025.
To ensure a strong market performance, organizations, such as the Philippine Green Building Initiative (PGBI), should be complemented by several measures, such as policy support, tax benefits, educational and awareness programs and realized savings from energy efficiency.
In 2010 the IFC noted that buildings accounted for 36 percent of the Philippines’s total annual power consumption and emitted 33.28 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Seven years later the IFC said rapid urban migration is expected to increase the number of buildings by 20 percent on annual basis.
With this scenario, the IFC said countries, like the Philippines, should be serious in developing green buildings, which integrate sustainable measures in design and construction, promoting efficient use of energy, water and other resources with low carbon footprint.
In the panel discussion on green financing, Jo Anne Eala, head of Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) sustainable energy program, said that government support is important to ensure the success of the program.
“Government has to be there to make the program moving,” she said.
She added that the private sector can only do as much as it could because of certain limitations.
Eala said BPI is fortunate because the sustainable development agenda is cascaded from the top to the ground level with no less than its Chairman Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II spearheading the advocacy.
“We’re fortunate that our chairman is very supportive of the green agenda. On the other hand, we have to bring awareness to our smaller brothers and sisters in the industry. It is not easy and cheap for the other private banks,” she explained.
Image credits: ALysa Salen