The sustainable lending portfolio of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) reached P52.165 billion in 2020.

Broken down, RCBC’s sustainable lending portfolio consisted of P32.722 billion worth of eligible green projects and P19.432 billion worth of eligible social projects in 2020. These involved 15 green projects and 9,947 social projects, respectively.

“As the economy gradually rises from the ruins of the pandemic, RCBC will be a strong partner in support of the BSP, not just in rebuilding, but in championing the ESG agenda and sustainable practices,” President and CEO Eugene S. Acevedo said.

Under the bank’s eligible green portfolio, renewable energy (RE) has the biggest share of 61%, clean transportation and energy efficiency activities each represent 18%, and 3% for sustainable water management projects.

Under the bank’s eligible social portfolio, affordable housing projects comprise 36% of the total, employment generation 32%, access to essential services 24%, and socioeconomic advancement and empowerment eight percent.

RCBC issued sustainability bonds to refinance a combination of green and social projects. The P8 billion sustainability bond is maturing in June 2021, while the $300 million sustainability bond will mature in September 2024. Both sustainability bonds were issued in 2019.

Last month, the bank also issued a P17.8 billion ASEAN sustainability bond to refinance green and social projects. In terms of impact, RCBC helped finance eligible RE assets that generated over 10,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2020, translating to approximately 8.3 million tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions compared to coal power. RCBC also helped fund a rail transportation project that benefitted more than 40 million passengers last year; RCBC extended funding to infrastructure for clean water and wastewater treatment which supplied 10.1 million cubic meters of water to nearly 2,000 households.

RCBC’s funding support for hospitals resulted in medical treatment for 1.264 million patients; financing for schools helped provide education for 148,514 students; support for cooperatives assisted 200,000 clients; funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) translated to 802 loans; and support for affordable housing resulted to 9,117 affordable houses financed in 2020.

Late last year, the bank declared it will no longer finance new coal-fired power projects in the Philippines. The announcement supports the Department of Energy (DOE) plan to increase the country’s share of renewable energy as power source to 43 percent by 2040.

Malaya Business Insight