FFPH Comments on the Proposed Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Guidelines by BSP

The Financial Sector Forum (FSF) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through the social media accounts of BSP posted a Call for Comments on the proposed Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Guidelines (SFTG). Fair Finance Philippines (FFPh), as a national coalition advocating for a responsible and sustainable Philippine financial sector, answered the call and sent the coalition’s comments on October 6, 2023. The FFPH comments primarily forwarded the following:

• Emphasized the principles of Inclusivity, Governance, Prioritization, and Dynamic Nature;
• Proposed the following Assessment Standards and Tools:
  • Oxfam Philippines safeguarding standards for vulnerable sectors to mitigate climate change impact;
  • Oxfam Confederation Tool for calculating carbon footprint;
  • Risk Assessment Tool by Operation Listo;
  • LGU Guidebook on Formulation of Local Climate Change Action Plan;
  • OPH Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis tool; and
  • Fair Finance Guide Methodology.
• Underscored the expressed inclusion of illegal and massive destruction weaponry in the list of excluded activities;
• Proposed a dynamic period for compliance instead of a static 5-year period;
• Recommended the urban sector to be included in one of the priorities, forestry and coastal ecosystem and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) as one of the enabling sector, and
• Cautioned on the weakness of a principle-based taxonomy

The FFPH Comments to the proposed PH-STFG is accessible by clicking here. The proposed Philippine Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Guidelines is available online (click here).