An abridged guide by Oscar Lopez Jr., Chief Strategy Officer of Envi-comm Corporation
For years, ESG in the Philippines was a report you published if you wanted to look good. That has changed. Under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 16 (series of 2025), listed companies and large non-listed entities are moving to the Philippine Financial Reporting Standards on sustainability, PFRS S1 and PFRS S2, which are based on the international ISSB standards. Sustainability information is now being treated like financial information: it must be consistent, comparable, approved by the board, and eventually assured.
1. Know your date
Adoption is phased by company size. Based on the SEC roadmap, the largest listed companies (market capitalisation above PHP 50 billion) start with financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026, mid-sized listed companies (above PHP 3 billion) follow in 2027, and the remaining listed companies and qualifying large non-listed entities follow in 2028. Limited assurance on Scope 1 and 2 emissions is expected to follow after initial adoption. Confirm your tier and exact dates against the circular before you plan.
Even if your date is a few years away, your customers may not wait. Larger buyers and banks will ask their suppliers for emissions data first.
2. Start with materiality, not with a long list
The most common mistake is treating every ESG topic as important. Pick the handful of topics that genuinely affect your business or that your business genuinely affects. Look in both directions: how climate, nature and social issues affect your finances, and how your operations affect the environment and communities. Everything else can be monitored, not managed.
3. Build the emissions baseline
Measure Scope 1 (your own fuel and processes), Scope 2 (purchased electricity), and the Scope 3 categories that matter most, such as purchased goods, waste, business travel and commuting. For most companies Scope 3 is the largest share. Do not wait for perfect data. Start with spend-based estimates, find the gaps, and improve each year. The right question about an early error is whether it is material, not whether it exists.
4. Bring suppliers along, especially SMEs
Your Scope 3 depends on suppliers who may never have measured anything. Segment them: begin with the small group that drives most of your emissions, hold a general briefing, then talk to the priority suppliers one by one. Make clear what is in it for them, keep requests simple, and support smaller firms instead of cutting them off. Report the share of your supply chain engaged to your leadership every quarter.
5. Set targets people can believe
A credible target is specific, tied to your strategy, challenging but achievable, and backed by a plan and an owner. Involve the people who must deliver it. A target that is too easy inspires no one, and one that is too bold gets ignored. Changing a target after the fact to make it easier is itself a form of greenwashing.
6. Start quick wins now
You do not need a finished net zero strategy to act. Energy efficiency, LED lighting, sub-metering, solar PV, better controls and greener procurement usually pay for themselves and build support for harder changes later. Give each department a target in language it understands, and consider an internal carbon price to guide investment decisions.
7. Do not forget the S and the nature side
Social value, meaning how your company affects employees, communities and local suppliers, is moving from a nice-to-have to something regulators, buyers and public procurement look at. Nature-related risk is following the path of climate: the TNFD framework asks companies to look at their dependencies on ecosystems, water and land. For Philippine companies in food, health care, infrastructure and extractives, a small pilot on one site or value chain is a sensible first step.
8. Guard against greenwashing and greenhushing
Only claim what you can prove. Avoid highlighting one green feature to distract from the rest, labelling products as sustainable without evidence, or quietly lowering targets. The opposite mistake, saying nothing to avoid scrutiny, also costs you credibility with investors. Publish honest, data-backed progress, including what is not yet working.
9. Ask for Support
There are 38 leading international Environmental & Sustainability (E&S) consulting firms (the “Global 38”). There was a study that found the global E&S market grew to $58.8bn in 2024. The report also finds that Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America all recorded double-digit growth. Below are the logos of the Global 38:
Our firm Envi-comm is also willing and very much able to assist and provide expert guidance with a strong local presence being a Philippine-based ESG and climate technology company specializing in environmental compliance. We are happy to help in anyway we could, you can contact me at ojlopez@envicomm.org.
10. Envi-comm’s 90-Day ESG Starter Plan
- Days 1–30: confirm your reporting tier and date; name a board or senior executive owner; form a cross-functional team (finance, operations, HR, procurement, sustainability).
- Days 31–60: run a materiality assessment; collect existing energy, fuel, waste and spend data; identify gaps.
- Days 61–90: produce a first Scope 1 and 2 baseline and a rough Scope 3 screen; pick two or three quick wins; draft targets and a supplier engagement plan.
ESG done well is not paperwork. It lowers energy and waste costs, protects access to capital, and keeps you a preferred supplier. The companies that start measuring now will be ready when the disclosure deadline, or their biggest customer asks.
Sources and notes: Environment Analyst, “Corporate Guide: Accelerating your ESG transition” (July 2023), with chapters by AECOM, TAUW, WSP, Antea Group, Ramboll and Ricardo. Philippine requirements are from SEC Memorandum Circular No. 16, s. 2025 as summarised by public law-firm and audit-firm bulletins; verify tiers, dates and assurance timelines against the circular or legal counsel before relying on them. Draft for review, not legal advice.