BIZ BUZZ: Disillusioned

Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez, the man responsible for real estate investment trusts (REITs) finally taking off as a new asset class after nearly a decade of inutility, minced no words in sharing the government’s disappointment with the West on climate change imperatives.

Dominguez, who headed the country’s COP26 (UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow) delegation late last year, stressed that while the Philippines was contributing only three-tenths of 1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, it was bearing the brunt of the consequences of climate change.

“To demonstrate to the world how a developing and climate vulnerable country like the Philippines can lead in this fight to save our planet, we submitted a bold commitment to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent in 2030,” Dominguez said on Tuesday as he graced the stock market listing of Citicore Energy REIT Corp., the country’s first renewable energy-themed REIT.

“We are disappointed, however, that the wealthier nations with the greatest volume of emissions were far less ambitious in their commitments to the global effort to rescue the planet. We are also disillusioned by the fact that the Western economies that agreed to raise the climate financing for vulnerable countries seem to require three more years to work out the details and parameters of the concept,” he said.

Nonetheless, Dominguez said the Philippines was very determined to fulfill its ambitious targets through the implementation of practical projects on the ground.

“We have decided not to rely entirely on COP and on the financing commitments of Western countries. We will not sit and wait idly while the planet burns. We will take action on our own,” he said.

He noted that CREIT’s listing was a perfect example of how the government and the private sector could jointly address issues related to global warming.

“All of these will complement our ongoing efforts to accelerate the Philippines’ transition to clean energy through the energy transition mechanism (ETM) project with the Asia Development Bank (ADB),” he said.

The Philippines announced a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in October 2020.

The ETM project with the ADB seeks to retire or repurpose coal-fired power plants in pilot countries in the near-term. Ultimately, retiring 50 percent of the coal fleet in ETM’s three pilot phase countries (Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam) is seen to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 200 million tons annually, the equivalent of taking 61 million cars off the roads.

— Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Growing clientele

It seems that more and more consumers are opting to get their power supply from greener sources, as evident in Citicore Renewable Energy Corp.’s (CREC) growing customer base.

CREC recently reported a 250-percent increase in its number of customers. Through Citicore Energy Solutions Inc., the retail electricity arm of CREC, more end-users are assured of consistent and reliable electricity supply coming from CREC’s solar power generating plants.

According to CREC, its clientele has steadily increased from 2016 to 2020. By the end of 2021, it was also able to bag two new contracts for the supply of renewable energy to several facilities of a real estate logistics company and two of its subsidiaries in Luzon.

“The increasing collaboration with various industry players reflects the growing consciousness to shift to clean and renewable energy among consumers,” said Oliver Tan, president and CEO of CREC. “It is likewise a strong testament to CREC’s capability to provide steady and reliable supply of renewable energy to a diverse set of customers and clients coming from our diverse portfolio, which also provides us with a distinct advantage.”

CREC currently operates eight solar plants nationwide with an aggregate installed capacity of 163 megawatts.

Interest in renewables continues to rise as shown in the successful listing of Citicore Energy REIT Corp. (CREIT) on Tuesday. CREC is the sponsor-firm of the renewable-energy focused real estate investment trust (REIT), which received “overwhelming demand” for its IPO.

—Karl R. Ocampo INQ