RP firms addressing energy issues – poll
RP firms addressing energy issues – poll
By Cris Evert Lato, Reporter
A 2007 international survey showed that Philippine companies have done the most in addressing energy and environmental issues compared to other countries in the world.
According to the International Business Report (IBR) conducted by Grant Thornton International, 83 percent or 126 of the 150 medium to large privately held businesses in the Philippines took energy reviews to better understand how they may conserve energy.
Grant Thornton International is represented in the Philippines by Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A).
In the same survey, 85 percent or 128 companies in the country have also reported reduced energy consumption.
“Educational institutions and an active NGO network constantly promote environmental awareness, while both private and public sectors continue to drum up support for research on alternative sources of energy,” said P&A managing partner and CEO Greg Navarro.
He added that the social climate in the Philippines inspires businesses to action.
“The government itself works hard towards energy independence, (for the) development of non-oil energy sources and efficient management of oil prices in the market,” said Navarro.
He said that companies in the Philippines already recognized that energy costs significantly hurt finances, even more than staff costs and property costs.
Gasoline prices were adjusted (mostly upward) at least a dozen times in 2006 alone, he added.
The IBR also shows that more than half of Philippine businesses identified the costs of energy and raw materials as major concerns, which threaten profitability with 68 percent considering energy costs as primary threat and another 55 percent pointing to raw materials as a significant factor on cost pressures.
Meanwhile, Grant Thornton International global leader of privately held businesses Alex Macbeath said that national governments have to look into the long-term competitiveness of the economies and factor energy and raw materials costs into that equation.
“Unless they take action to actively encourage businesses to invest for the future and reduce their impact on the environment, they will ultimately damage their economies,” he said in an official statement.
The companies included in the IBR were measured and given corresponding points based on “whether they undertook energy review, reduced energy consumption, put measures to conserve energy, invested in energy-saving equipment and alternative fuel sources and considered relocation to reduce transportation costs.”
In the survey, Brazil follows in second place, with mainland China and Malaysia in third and fourth place respectively. Singapore, Thailand and France hit the bottom three in taking less steps in saving energy costs.
(As published in Cebu Daily News, 17 September 2007)