0:18 Good morning everyone. Um, on behalf of the EU Switch Asia program, um, and our partners, the GCNP, I would like to welcome you all to this morning's event. Um, I'm Grace Santos. I'm one of the experts supporting the work of AEBA here in the Azan region. um in particular here in the Philippines um in partnership with our country lead for the Philippines, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Um incidentally, we were with the CCCI yesterday for the first um circular economy for business training that we had in Cebu City. Um
1:04 and now we're here today to formally launch another partnership uh this time with the global comp compact network Philippines. Um so the um the ASEBA is one of the initiatives um supported by the European Union under the EU switch Asia um program. Um and here with us today um is Mr. Mark Gmer. He's the head of cooperation of the delegation of the European Union of the Philippines. Um, and as our, you know, main main partner and supporter for this event, we would like to and for this project, we would like to invite Mr. Gamber to say a few words on behalf of the EU delegation to the Philippines. Mr. Gamber,
1:52 >> thank you. And uh, thanks for making your way back from SEU. So, I know that Francesca was also there. Wow, I look young. I I I Yeah, but now it works. I I understand there's a lot of colleagues online. So, uh, greetings to everyone here. And to the colleagues online, today is about you. Today is about AIBA. And, uh, I have to peak GCNP. Been here only one and a half years. So, I'm Everything has an acronym. I'm not good at it, so I'm picking the acronyms. So, I think we're here today for your um for signing your partnership,
2:39 but of course, as you can see, it's also a little bit about us and maybe to just explain why we are supporting these kind of activities, especially of the private sector in the field of circular economy. Switch Asia has been around uh for some 20 years, huh? Is it Well, I look at Franchesca because we worked on that 20 years ago together. Uh, and she still is and uh and I I think that came because the European Union has supported strengthening country systems around the world. Circular economy was very high on the agenda of in many emerging economies. But the world has changed. There was the
3:26 understanding that we have to work better with the private sector in order to achieve not only at that time the MDGs now SDGs but we also need to have the knowledge and the financing of the private sector otherwise we will not be able to achieve these globally agreed targets. Something is flashing there. Oh yeah. So I'm hybrid and I think it's it's it's not a secret that we will not achieve the climate targets, the climate ambitions. We will not achieve the SGS without the financing, the knowledge, the drive of the private sector. This is exactly what Switch Asia is supporting. Now, as we are in the Philippines, of course, I
4:12 take the opportunity to promote what we are doing to externalize the European Green Deal. And you know, we want to increase uh the circularity of our economy from 12 to 24% in the coming decade. But we have a very strong partnership here in the Philippines under Global Gateway. Global Gateway is the European Union strategy to create strong trusted partnerships with partner countries. And as such in 2023 our European Commission President Osula Fondonderline was here in Manila and together with President Marcos Jr. they launched the green economy partnership. We put up front 60 million euros in grants in order to launch the green
4:59 economy partnership. We work under the leadership of DNR, Department of Environment Natural Resources. So I've been here long enough to know that one, that acronym. But we also work with the department of interior and local government to roll out the very good legislative background that the Philippines has to the local government unit level. We are working with the department of trade and industry to promote also PPPs at local level to support MSMES at local level. Here we need to derisk the different investments because there's a lot of good ideas in the private sector in municipalities the LGUs. However, very often circularity circular economy is not very high on the agenda
5:45 but this is a global phenomenon. So this is where we are developing local financing mechanisms, products for the private sector to invest or for the private sector to go into a PPP with a local government unit and a lot of investment is needed. The landfills in the Philippines have reached about 90% capacity. So we are focusing our work on solid waste, on waste management, not only solid but waste management. And this is where there is more and more understanding something has to happen and investment has to come and the investment can not only be done by the p uh by the public sector. Hence we are supporting these MSMES active in the area. We looking into European
6:30 technologies how it can be rolled out is Philippine technologies. There is a lot of Philippine members in the European Chamber of Commerce. So we are trying to work in this partnership to make sure that waste management at local level will come with some good examples and here we're also working with the local government units in a mayor's fellowship program. So we started with the 10 LGUs that were most advanced. This includes not a big surprise Bio City mayor Benji and now the other mayors can learn how did you do it? How did you put circularity waste management into your local planning? Bagio city for example, we have Kison city, we have Pasik City. No big surprises, but to come with a
7:16 positive narrative, it's important to showcase how it works. This is where some local government units need support. Learn from the ones that already implement. Of course, you cannot compare. We have Oramok in there, Del Carmon. You cannot compare the city of Del Carman with the city of Kison. I mean the the waste amount the investment private sector is different. But to start on the planning of a local circular economy plan to budget it to look into how it can be financed because any plan without financing will not work out. This is what we are doing. So I invite you please follow the opportunities especially representatives of the private sector on our we have a website greeneconomy.ph PH but you can
8:03 also use an internet search engine you will get there and there will be more opportunities because we need more agreements and this is why I'm very happy that we are here today to witness the agreement between now I have to peak the acronyms ABA and GCNP that's important so there's other initiatives where we can see how you can come in with this um with this partnership maybe from other partners. You know, we have a lot of like-minded partners that are working in the field of the green economy here in the country. And any progress is good because any progress will support all of us achieving the SGS, the circular economy challenge here
8:50 in the Philippines and elsewhere. There is a lot of cooperation between the Philippines lined up for this year in the Azan chairship context. So the department of environment natural resources will have dedicated events towards circular economy. So we hope to see a lot of the private sector and public sector representatives present there. And I think we are very happy and I don't have to tell you more about switch Asia because you know it better than me that switch Asia was able to support the events in Cebu a lot of the discussion facilitate. So a lot of thanks to the co-conveners and the experts in switch Asia but especially the partners of today. So now it's about
9:35 you again. This is important. This is for the development of the country. This will create opportunities. This will help also creating opportunities while respecting circular economy. I will not tell you about the taxonomy work we are doing to make sustainable investments more aligned with our national framework. You will find all of this on green economy.ph. And I hand back over to our moderator. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you, Mr. Gmer. We have been engaging in a SEBA actively engaging the green economy partnership project as well as well as the European Chamber of Commerce and Industry. we've had them in
10:22 a number of our webinars and our activities in ASEBA. So, thank you very much again for your for your support. Um to speak more about um ASEBA and our work in the region not only in the Philippines is one of the co-conveners of ASEBA, Mr. Thomas. He is also the founder and chairman of Aria SDNBHD and was formerly head of the Azan CSR network. So maybe welcome Mr. Thomas Lamas. >> Uh good morning. Um it's a pleasure to be here. Let me acknowledge um Miss Ma
11:09 Victoria Tan, the chap of um uh GCNP uh Marcus and uh Francisco from the UN the EU D you know the getting into thanks for your sponsorships that made these things possible. So I think it's right that we had word from you. I also want to acknowledge my whole convenor Dr. Reene Ben and all the speakers especially all those who are online. Thank you very much for taking time to come. Uh it's a great pleasure for me to come back uh to look at global compact. My work started
11:57 many years ago on more than 15 years ago when I took a pushed on Singapore and one of my first initiatives was to start the global compact network there and be participating on it. So I quite happy to come back and recollect the revival of global compact in Philippines and to see this. So let me just uh share with you a little bit on where and how we are here today and where um okay just to let you know that Ariba okay we started our roots uh was in Assean CSR network uh Asan CSR network is ASEAN entity
12:43 responsible for promoting responsible business within ASEAN and we work with Philippines together with the Asan business advisory council we developed a code on responsible and inclusive business. Uh the idea actually started 10 years ago and it was formally approved things and um then in 200 2023 I met Zenida we actually Zenida and Rey Renee has participated in the activities of NCSR network they brought most of the expertise and has booked. So we talked about supporting to promote businesses in mobilizing business for u s for circular economy as a project car and um
13:32 this uh but ascensitica baha means private limited is a it's an organization in Malaysia because Singapore had its constraints and I think we also found that the word CSR was conoted with uh with philanthropy, charity and while we were saying that social responsibility is not how you spend money but how did you make that money? Did you make yourself rich by making other people poorer? So that is a concept. So we have taken it and we are still part of the ASEAN business advisory council and promoting this the ASEAN the EU switch Asia program has been yes almost 19 years around and uh
14:20 they have two promps of doing it. One is a grants project and the other one is um is a policy support component and we work and this policy support component has worked on a lot of technical advisories on a wide range of subjects including sustainable procurement green financing uh circular economy and knowledge platforms and many things go to their websites it's interesting reading so now let We come a little bit more on Aribba which is our ASEAN. Next slide please. Um um we we have based on it
15:06 um Araba we we came up with seven principles and seven subject areas. The principles are very common with from OECD uh UN global compact principles the ISO 26,000 on accountability transparency uh ethical behavior respect for stakeholder rule of laws and we have also seven subject areas the idea of these subject areas are quite familiar. Next slide. Is also tied very closely with also global compact principles on the main areas of human rights, labor, environment, anti-corruption. It's also tied with ISO 26,000 OECD guidelines. This is we we did a lot of work behind
15:52 the scenes to persuade the then 10 ASEAN countries business groups to agree on something which businesses can do which is also global standards. So none with these actors and what we stand for. Let me just go on to the next slide on the genesis of AIPA. >> When we first started ASIBA, we headed for Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. We did a series of uh dialogues getting uh engagement to get from stakeholders. uh global compact network was involved in many of these networks and we came up with three things. Uh the purpose was to arrive at a common understanding and also analyze
16:40 and uncover cases of circular economy. So uh in Asia and also try to engage businesses to take the next uh bring ambition forward. And for uh the next place the for the arriving at a common understanding we arrived at a framework on what should be the uh business action the principles we agreed on five principles and for analyzing and can can you just go to the next level? Uh no no yeah there's some more parts there. Uh and um finally uh we have developed 88 case studies of eight countries. Um and we have uh now launch
17:28 AIBA. Uh next slide please. And uh AIBAM was launched on July 2024. The tall guy on the right is the U EU ambassador to ASEAN. Then that's me. and uh Renee we are the co-conveners and Zinina leader of uh switch Asia the other co-convener is Mr. Gil Gonzalez who used to be the uh executive director of the ASEAN business advisory council. So that was launched. We were supported by the ASEAN um the ASEAN uh uh coordinating committee for micro small and mediumsiz enterprises and the ASEAN
18:15 secretary. So next slide. The key part is this that uh this is ASEAN centric and businessled uh and we want to contribute to the ASEAN 2021 ASEAN circular economy framework and national strategies of each of the countries and the participants of uh AIBA will pledge to lead by example in the adoption of circular economy. We will provide them the visibility the voice for the participating com companies. uh we document, showcase good business examples and innovative solutions, facilitate learning and uh sharing among companies and also promote operational tools and metrics etc. Uh
19:02 last yesterday we shared one of those metric tools in ceu uh next slide please. Okay, we have got three uh level of participants. One is participants which is companies that uh commit to a pledge that quite similar to the global compact pledge that they will commit to continuous improvement and circularity report on the progress and participate and contribute. Then in each of the countries that we are experimenting, we have country leads. So Philippines is a Cebu Chamber of Commerce and uh they coordinate with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and they're trying to build a network. So
19:48 and similarly we have in Indonesia Cardin and in Thailand is a Thai environment institute. The regional hub is uh the coordinating role of the regional and the practices will be done by Araba. Uh sir okay a little bit on next slide a little bit on AIA Philippines. Uh the country lead is the Cebu chamber. We have done about a workshop with them last year and we did the signing. We have so far done two webinars and yesterday we did a training session with them. uh with global compact uh Philippines we're trying to do call for action so that your members can do circularity and we also hope that
20:34 other businesses will live up to a responsible inclusive business principles on responsible business and what we hope to do is compile more case studies uh because one of the things that initially some people had the idea that this is a western idea this is a Japanese idea this is not really Southeast Asia but if you really look at it Southeast Asia traditionally we have been very circular in many of our activities and ways and a lot of our companies have also been doing it so it's a case of uncovering these these experiences these examples and by creating a network we can also do an advocacy to see where are the uh what could be the enablers for bringing these
21:20 things up and uh going forward we also will be doing a change makers program in March and to be if uh with uh if the EU uh supports it will have also an accelerator program and um next please. Okay. So this um uh partnership launched today is to accelerate it's a call for action. It's for us to accelerate the circular economy in the business. And when you uh do this circular e economy in business you're also advancing the global compact stand principles especially the principles on environment on the so responsibilities itself. So what we would do we will collaborate to
22:07 develop and promote circular economy business uh cases. We will co-organize activities dialogue learning opportunities and expect business participation both in global compact Philippines as well in AIBA. So my last slide and during time is to say uh this is how you can join. I hope all the companies who are watching online, yes, you can join, find out more about uh AIBA and join us, scan it, you get case studies and learn more of us. On that note, I thank you and I look forward to the partnership with uh Global Compact
22:53 Network Philippines and the support from the EU as well. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Thomas. Um and again, we are looking forward as Seba is looking forward to um further expanding our work with our partnership with the GCNP of course and also um getting more GCNP members on board the alliance. Um so we will now hear from our partners, the Global Compact Network Philippines. Um with us today is the chairperson of the board of trustees of um GCN Philippines and also the head of the group risk management and sustainability
23:38 of Ayala Corporation. Um may we now welcome Miss Maria Victoria Tan to speak more about the GCNP and their circularity initiatives. Maganda um good morning everyone. Thank you. Hi, I need energy. Thank you. Thank you, Marco and Thomas, for setting the tone for our conversation today. I'm excited about the€60 million euros that you will be giving to the country. Is that correct? Is that the right number? >> Spend already. >> I spent already. So, I think we need allocations, another allocations. But thank you for
24:24 investing and work um helping us through with the technicalities of the green economy. It is something that we are all looking forward to because it will also create jobs formemes and those in the other localities. Uh thank you Thomas for walking us through with uh you know how you develop Seba from the Asian CSR network. That's a lot of work. You know for all of you I have seen Thomas the last time before COVID in Singapore. at that time you were still with the Asaian CSR network and so it's I think one of the pillars in the CSR world and right now he is
25:09 making us follow him in the circularity economy world. Thank you Thomas for also mapping the responsible and inclusive business um principles that you have with the 10 principles of the global compact. And on that note, I guess we have a shared understanding, shared values and shared leadership for this particular uh task ahead of us. But first, I want to acknowledge uh partners, colleagues and friends uh present today, Dr. Renee Ban Burkel. I last saw him in New York 15 months ago. That's my recollection uh is correct. And that was the start of the discussion
25:56 around uh AEBA. And of course my good friend here uh Leo and Anna Lagon of Bio, Leia Maggalian of SM hotels, Leia uh and uh Lily Fuentes of Pilox and of course the other trustees of the global compact network and to everyone participating online. Thank you for taking the time. I think that's a long introduction because I was so fascinated with the work of Marco drinks like money to me and of course uh from Thomas. Now we're here today to formalize than the individual organization
26:42 themselves. Okay, I think I have some slides. Uh, in 2025 12,000 tons every single day. That's almost 800 garbage trucks going through the Metro Manila network. And so that's aside from the waste, there's a lot of traffic because of that and that is only in the NCR. I'm sure everyone has heard statistics like this before. So what's different now?
27:28 It's the urgency. Globally, only 18% of the SGS are on track. And here in the Philippines, the gap between policy and implementation is widening while the waste keeps piling up. Everyone needs to work together to develop solutions at the pace and scale needed to tackle these complex problems from the private sector, the government, civil society, and to the individuals. We need everyone at the table. GCNP has been building that table since 2017 in the Philippines and today's partnership with AEBA is about expanding it further. For those new to our network, the Global
28:14 Compact Network Philippines is a country network of the UN Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative with over 20,000 business participants across 167 countries. The Global Compact operates on a simple premise. Business can be a force for good. We anchor companies in 10 principles spanning human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. When integrated into operations, these principles become pathways to the SDGs. Circular economy is one practical way to operationalize the SGS. and the 10
28:59 principles of the UN global compact. It addresses water scarcity, climate change, waste reduction and ecosystems health through a single shift. Designing waste out of the system and keeping resources in use longer. It drives progress across multiple SGS at once. Decent work and economic growth, responsible consumption and production, climate action, protecting life below water and on land. I think that one is not working. I'm not so sure. Is it? Is it? Thank you. Here in the Philippines,
29:45 the policy frameworks are taking shape. We have bills on the circular economy at both houses. We have been implementing the extended producers responsibility act where covered entities are mandated to recover packaging materials at a rate of 20% in 2023 to 80% in 2028. And Philippine companies across hospitality, construction, agri food, retail and recycling are testing circular models and finding what works. Marco, you mentioned about the Solid Waste Management Act and yes, we have that that was a bill that passed into a law in the year 2000
30:31 that created the solid um the commission the solid waste management commission and mandates everyone to segregate waste. I think that's where we failed right. I believe that until now the support infrastructure hasn't kept pace. For example, materials recovery facilities exist but aren't always accessible or residents don't know their barang guys have one. Unilver one of GCNP's participants had a program to encourage its customers to collect and segregate weights. They work with junk shops incentivizing households to segregate ways reaching over 400
31:18 barangis. But initiatives like this can't be sustained or scaled by one company alone. They need to become shared practice, shared learning and shared infrastructure. Businesses have the intent but not always the resources and practical tools. Companies are learning through trial and error, often in isolation from each other. There is a gap between intention to act and the systems that would help them succeed. This partnership between GCNP and ASEBA won't fully close the gap, but we can create the space where companies share what's working, where ch your
32:04 challenges become case studies, where your wins become the road map for the next company. What you're figuring out today informs how current and future leaders approach the circular economy. What that means in practice is this. More resources available to support companies in their circularity journey. More opportunities to learn from peers. More ways to connect your sustainability commitments to concrete action. For those exploring how to move further on circularity, this creates an entry point. And if you want to learn more, please scan the QR code in the presentation.
32:51 Remember where we started? 4.34 million tons of waste, 800 garbage trucks daily just in Metro Manila. The scale of challenge requires companies leading together, learning from each other, as Marco mentioned, building the playbook that others can follow. That's what this partnership enables. So, let's get to work. Thank you. And maming salamat. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss Vicki. Um, Miss Vicki has been very um quite active
33:36 um and we see her um all the time during our events. um po for again making this happen finally um with ASEBA. So be before we move on to the highlight of our event today which is the signing of the memorandum of agreement between ASEBA and GCNP um can you give us around 2 minutes to just set up the um the tables for the MOA signing um and then we will come back again online after two minutes.
35:01 All right. So may we now come back online as well. So um we are now at the segment of our program we where we will have ASEBA and GCNP principles sign the memorandum of agreement between the two organizations. Um may we ask um Miss Vicki to also join us here up front. Also joining them here
35:46 in front is U. Mr. Edward Yokosana of GCNP. All right. We'll just um cover the projection screen. There you go. So, we are now witnessing um the principles of both organizations um signing our MOA.
37:35 Are we are we done? >> Okay. So, we um um may we ask So, I think we're done. So, can we give everyone a round of applause and we'll have a a photo? Okay, let's have a photo first with um all the principles. All right. So, congratulations to everyone. It's now finally official. >> New York.
38:20 >> Yes. From New York. >> And now it's again it's finally official. So yes. Um so um so again um thank you to the principles of both organizations. Um, and as I've mentioned before, we are equally excited as GCNP to move this partnership forward and do more collaborative activities together. Um, so our next um speaker is also one of the co-conveners of ASEBA um Dr. Renee Van Burkel. He's also a senior expert of the EU switch Asia policy support component, an international faculty member of Tamasat University um
39:07 and a member of the international research panel. So may we now call on Dr. Renee Van Berkel to speak more about circular economy for responsible business. Uh thank you very much for the kind introduction and indeed Vicki it's nice to see this after we met occasionally over a coffee in New York and then started to chat about what uh at the global compact meeting or what what could we do on the circular economy and then mentioned oh we just launched this as Saba and Vicki said ah that's interesting let's try to find out and now we're here so thank you very much I think personal connections are also still very important to get things moving but we move beyond that and we have uh we're very pleased to see this. Uh so can I have the slides presentation? So I want to speak a
39:53 little bit about this connection between circular economy and responsible business and share a little bit of the the richness of the experiences which we also have uncovered here already in the Philippines and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. And I'm very pleased to see also some some of the representatives on from some of the companies here that we will showcase. So uh next slide please. Can you just click two more times then we have the whole slide. So I think that that there there is Thomas spoke about the the issue that we we have a circular economy but circular economy means very different things to different people and that is a that's a bottleneck for mo progressing and it's also a source for uh greenwashing and skepticism which we see and that's there therefore we we see that that that there is so sort of a
40:40 sense we need to move away from take make use and throw away to something which is more circular but we define circular economy has the opposite of linear economy and if I just say linear economy is a point somewhere then the opposite could be on the top on the bottom on the left on the right and that's the the reason for confusion so uh that's also it's switch Asia which we trying to to address and with Saber so next slide please so so we see that uh this is in partially the cause by the fact that we have these different perspect perspectives from which circular economy came so we have a what what we will now refer as the ecosystem metaphor which is basically what the Alan McCarter Foundation is saying. So can we just copy and paste what is happening in nature into industrial systems. So in in
41:28 in nature nothing goes to waste where we try we get the circular economy principles as avoiding waste recycle at the highest level and regenerate nature. Then we have in the very well established in the in the Rio declaration already 92 the precautionary principle which is essentially saying that if there's a risk potential risk we should not do it we should avoid that risk of version and that has led us to to the the three R principles we use we use recycle and that is now being extended to nine R principles and I've even seen versions where the 60R principles so I think it's also become a little bit of an art of real differentiation not necessarily that useful Then we have the circular business models which is taking the the the approach of the value hill as they say. So basically if iron ore is in the soil
42:14 it's not worth much once it's ore out of the soil it's more worse then it's steel it's even more worse it becomes a car it's a highest value and we scrap the car all the value lost. So we want to kind of keep that there and then we get to this circular business models which speak about slowing um material cycles narrowing them so using less uh but also closing them and regenerate than nature. So these are the elements there and then the decoupling principle is basically promoted by the international resources panel which I'm also contributing to now uh is is saying that we basically need to do more with less. So we need to use to produce more economic output, more value for with less environmental impact, less resource users and we add
43:00 now also for more benefit for the people. So it's also about finding out efficiency in in in in consumption that we have we are happy with less material uh resources. So that's there. So um next slide please. Next slide. And one two more clicks I think one click more. One more. So, so we see then now circular economy much more as an umbrella concept. So, it's it it includes some elements which people have been doing for a long time like eco design, resource efficiency, ecoefficiency and it includes some new elements on closing loops. But the the ultimate aim is is isite quite clear that that we basically want to to zero out the net inflow of virgining
43:48 resources. And then let's say resources because it's not only materials, it's also energy and water. And we want at the same time to all also zero out the net outflow of wasted resources into the uh into the environment. And this is basically it's worded slightly different than in the ISO 59004 standard which came out in 20 2024 but it's it's very much compensate with that ambition stipulated there even though the language is is more complicated there but it applies to materials and non-material resources. I I put that water energy but you could also look at at land and at nature how we use that and basically we have uh three uh main objectives of or strategies by which we can do it it's it's either closing so
44:34 circularity so keeping materials energy water in loops in perpetual loops through efficiency which is doing more with less but that also includes using things longer because if we use things longer it becomes efficiency it's like like two sides of the same coin and this this notion of substitution. So maximizing the potential of renewable materials, renewable energy in processes. So you could see that this resource management strategies become kind of a innovation angle towards achieving the circular product value chain where basically net inflows and net outflows are minimized. Next slide. So uh two more clicks. We we came and Thomas mentioned that we came as a framework because we think that ambition
45:19 matters. I I've said for circular economy we have to do it with intent and integrity otherwise we we are not making enough progress. So we've done that with after much consultations right around the place and there some disagreements and some strong endorsement but there's a sense of that this is about right that that that it's about five guiding principles. The first one is to to really say why do we do this? And it's because we need to address materials use as the root cause for the triple planetary crisis. So materials cause 60% of the greenhouse gas emission, 90% of biodiversity loss and I think 40% of air pollution. So we need to address materials use and that's for net zero for climate, net zero for nature, net zero for environment. H then uh the
46:07 second one is how do we do that? That's basically by doing resources or materials and other resources circularly efficiently and substitution to renewables. The third one is and there's I must acknowledge my friend co-convener Thomas it is very much an an element of responsible business. So if we go ISO 26,000 and other standards they all say it's about taking into consideration the responsibility for the impacts of the of the organization and its activities on society and the environment. If you design a product you decide what materials are going in there and that impacts on how circular economy is being achieved. So you can maybe not cover everything but it's clearly is a responsibility. The fourth one is maybe the least contended is to say that in
46:54 many cases we we we do circular economy by innovation. We need it's not it's not about waste management but it's about circular products and services and circular business processes. So we have to design this and often this requires new partnerships. So um in ideiation and cocreation and it's it's innovation which is not always the the latest science or technology but there are many case in agriculture for example we see cases emerging where it's just traditional knowledge being reinvigorated with current science to come up with solutions for climate smart rice farming for example and if you take the four first ones you say oh this is just environment we say no this is taking an environmental lens to deliver
47:40 ultimately also economic and social benefits and let's be honest everything to do we do right now to mitigate climate emissions is going to be big savings tomorrow or the day after tomorrow so that's clearly there so um in the in conversation with global compact network we have also said at the global level it is like doing responsible business taking an environmental lens as a starting point next slide please uh so so so this matters for the SD SDGs and for the SDGs Vicky showed that also there's now much more emphasis on on six transitions which are there and for three transition circular economy is very important. So we talk about climate biodiversity and pollution it's clearly there. We address the the root cause uh the food systems reform with
48:26 regenerative agriculture and way reducing food waste addressing consumption systems and the increased efficiency of use and other materials. uh many people have now argued that the energy transition is a misnomer. It's basically a materials transition also and we change the whole set of the economy from a flow of uh fossil fuels to stock of critical materials that will give us energy. So it's very much linked to that then digital transformation education systems. So I say there's some contributions but maybe less important food energy environment. Uh next slide please. So, so maybe also click four times. Thomas mentioned it. I basically I think uh the main entry point is that it contributes to the environment
49:11 principle. So advancing net zero climate emissions, elimination of waste and pollution and regeneration of nature and biodiversity. But we have also now uh since 2023 I think or two we have the uh globally recognized human right for a clean, safe and sustainable clean, healthy and sustainable environment. So having a clean environment is just a human right. So also there it's really basically around this. Uh if we speak about circular economy we talk about eliminating hazardous materials eliminating hazardous workplaces. So it's clearly contributes maybe not to labor organization but certainly to occupational health and safety there. And I think let's also face it environmental no non-compliance and
49:56 other non-compliances are a big cause for uh bribery. So if you don't comply, you have to bribe your way out. So if we drive compliance and beyond compliance, we take ma major steps on anti-corruption. So next one please. So I want to just give a few examples. So how this works. Uh so some of the examples from from uh uh from the Philippines. So converge ICT which I think is also member of global compact here. Uh so so they they do collection, refurbishment and repurposing of customer devices. So uh if your modem is no longer good enough for you, you want a higher plan, you bring it back to them. They refurbish or can check whether it's fine and then they send it back to the next customer and also power units and related ones. Uh they use geothermal power in the Clark data
50:42 center and in the headquarters and they do some plastic recycling with the community initiative. So this works for business. So they have 23% share of recycled or refurbished customers devices already and 22 they saved and 31 million pesos uh of the returned materials uh 43% can be repurposed 57% is then recycled and they have of course greenhouse gas emissions avoidance with geothermal and with the repurposing of some of the tarpines from communication events they create opportunities for community to make bags and so on. So maybe maybe a smaller one. Next slide please. So this whole sim also member of global compact globally.
51:27 Uh they worked clearly on the introduction of blended cements with up to 20% clinker substitution by by slacks and fly ash. Uh used then almost 940,000 tons of refuge devived fuel. So it's plastics and other waste that can be replaced coal and fuel oil. And they have done rainwater harvesting, water efficiency, recovery me measures. So huge cost savings, product diversification. So new markets, new opportunities and significant increases of the production capacity. So it's not quantifi but it's not just a few percent, it's runs in double digit percents of production increase. And then of course they have a huge diversion of waste uh waste from landfilling and the half the freshwater consumption just in 22. uh and then the
52:12 new income opportunity for some of the local government units which work with them. So it's community is clearly there. So next one I think that's my comparable case we have also simx but they we have been taken over and for SBI in the in Indonesia. uh precious plastics here in the Philippines is on the other end of the scale is basically manufacturing uh smallcale appropriate plastics recycling uh equipment which can then support uh community recycling initiative. So you collect plastics you spread and you compress it into uh basically boards kind of alternative to fiber board or so and with these boards you can make furniture and other items. So they have a and they they do that product development with the groups and they basically have a network of of a
52:59 couple of dozen recycling centers now here. So it's new plastic products made from m mixed recycled plastics. This they sell the uh recycling machine and they are also now attracting some EPR fees as a source of income and this plastic waste diversion is quite clear and this is clearly more social oriented on livelihood creation opportunities. We have similar similar cases tontoon in Cambodia, Robius in in Indonesia. They are they the same same but different as they say in Thailand. So they may be focusing slightly different but the same principle is quite scalable as well. Um so this is quite uh quite interesting. Next slide. It shows all the cases which we have on the table is a a sheet which summarizes them. So we have case from agri foods and dement furniture is in
53:46 the room. Um handiccrafts uh hospitality uh resource recovery services and then textile and garments is also in the room where bio is is here as well. So very pleased with that. So please look at this. These are these are examples that show that there is a a diversity of the applications of circular economy concept to different different sectors. It's valid. It's moves on there. Next slide please. uh I think we emphasize that there is a circular economies primary for business benefits. So many of these opportunities are basically about using materials, energy and water more efficiently and these these have have become more expensive. So if you save on expensive things that in improves the bottom line we see new business opportunities uh
54:33 maybe maybe we see that with low carbon cement. We see that elsewhere companies have biotechnology and create now new materials which are for the bioeconomy circular economy. So new business opportunities are there and let's face it some of the companies are also seeing that there's there's an end to some of the industries. So fast fashion is expected to decline. So we we clearly see companies which are big in that sector starting to realize that we need to get better bandwagon. This will not disappear if we hide under the table. And then in our framework with Asaba and I should also mention the knowledge products we we are saying that it's it's for business to do well while at the same time doing good for society and the and the planet. So it's doing well as a company while doing good for society and
55:20 the environment. Next slide please. So we have also looked a little bit at what appears to drive success and we didn't do a full uh strategy analysis that that was a bit lost there. But I think that the companies which we have profiled they all have a strong sense of purpose of a kind of magnetic north. So they they understand how the business is related to sustainability initiatives and they have a vision on where they want to go. I think all of them embrace innovation. So looking at new opportunities, innovation as I mentioned before, sometimes is traditional knowledge, sometimes is is science and technology. Uh so it depends on the sector. So embracing innovation and and using knowledge. And the last point I I always emphasize is also about
56:06 entrepreneurialism. So it's nice to talk about opportunities, but until we have an entrepreneur, someone who who take calculated risk, who shows persuasion, leadership, uh and things won't happen. So we need to also nurture the capabilities of of MSMES not to just say I do what I'm told but I will create an opportunity I will I will chase this and I will deliver this I won't stop until I won't give up the kind of mentality and and these are as we see then assets for dealing with some of the challenges which clearly are there the challenges in markets challenges with technology challenges financing but these challenges are for all companies and some companies succeed to do still move ahead So these challenges can be can be addressed if you have a strong sense of purpose, entrepreneurialism and so on.
56:54 So moving forward on this uh next slide please. Uh we we came up with a framework I'll show there a guide for unlocking circularity opportunity and we are kind of moving a little bit away from the the fact that there would be a one-sizefits-all road map. It it doesn't seem to be that way. So some companies need to learn others are strategydriven. So we propose a kind of a a framework or menu for companies to take action on and that needs to include take a stock take stock of what is happening what are the risks and opportunities for your business on on circularity. So so basically where are we what how is our business at risk where could be opportunities for our technology our markets and so on. So get get there. And
57:40 then this the second point and this we lean heavily on the global compact is saying that we we should not just focus on targets which we can achieve next year but we should first of all clear our ambition. So focus on ambition. What is circular economy ambition and what are then pathways to achieving this. So if we just get stuck in next year's targets or next quarter targets we tend to be very incremental and not looking at the bigger picture. And if we open the opportunities, we can find the innovations which are much much better there. Then we we speak about delivery or implementation and in terms of delivery we clearly say companies please look for for for dual track approach. So the first track is to to just copy and paste what others have done. So learn from what others have done and see what
58:25 you can do. Some have people have changed to renewable materials to to energy efficiency. Can you apply that? H and that is basically adapting. But the real challenge and the real opportunity is of course to pivot into new products and services. So how can what can your company do to say oh I I want to be a leadership in say circular genes or uh circular cement and what would that take and how can can we carry that. So a little bit of peering around and knowledge sharing on what others are doing and on the other hand saying I can do more in that sense and then the last one is is more or less the integration part which is the management systems the governance systems the business model which are there. Some businesses can can easily start quick with some quick wins
59:11 and would start with delivery and then come back to what is our circularity risk. Others would say we start with a risk management framework and then move on there. So that's all uh what we are and that's also what we in the training yesterday in Sibu were uh discussing would like to discuss also with global compact network. Uh so uh next uh slide please. So maybe click a few more times. I think people are saying you do circular economy for value creation. That's clearly where we say start now with things which are e easy to do. So if you need a boil a new boiler, buy one which is energy efficient or which can be maybe also fed by biomass as an alternative or electric design products with minimum packaging. Much of the packaging can be reduced. Look at recycled materials or recovered
59:57 materials. Then we say pivot into the future. Look at what can your company do as a lighthouse on the circular jeans or the circular cement or where can you lead by example. And then also and I think that's a it's a bad motivation but also be risk management avoid being left behind. This circular economy transition has started and it will continue to go despite some people trying desperately to push on the p pause button. Pause button doesn't exist. So we need to move forward. So clean your spectacles move ahead. Uh so then um I think my last slide next please is reiterating that please join and reiterating also that we we have uh quite a number of knowledge resources which are all available from the website. So in terms of knowledge
1:00:44 resources we have this set of business cases I think the number stands at 88 right now but I have a few in the pipeline so we soon hit 100 which is diverse around the different sectors. We have this framework document which is more about the strategy which you can communicate with CEOs and others to work on. And then we have this implementation guide which is more like uh the the nuts and bolts if I may say so from how can you get started, how can we get traction in our organization to to start moving and I really look forward to work with uh Edward Vicki the others of the global compact network Philippines to drive this forward as a call to action that we move forward more businesses leading on the circular economy for the Philippines. Thank you very much. Right.
1:01:33 Thank you, Dr. Renee. Um, and as he mentioned um during his um presentation um earlier, all our um resources and all information about ASEBA um and the business cases that you um saw in his presentation are all on our website. It's www.asba.co. So you can check that out. Everything is on our website. Um so I mean um three of them to today to be with here with us to to share um their
1:02:19 circular innovations as well as circular model um development for their respective businesses. Um, one of them is um, Bio Manila and with us today is Miss Anna Lagon. She's the co-CEO of Biio Manila and also the vice president um, for membership of GCNP. So, we may now hear from Miss Anna about the circular economy experience of bio. >> Thank you. Let me just fix my props. to deliver uh tangible results, right? So, yeah, good morning and thank you for all those uh information. It actually uh
1:03:05 feels so good that uh there were a lot of validations coming from um how things should be done and I'm like at the back of my head I'm saying okay check check right so very inspiring and very um like it's adding motivation to us to continue what we do but of course first of all thank you to um the Asaian circular economy business alliance for this invitation um and for creating this platform for us to to show real practice-based circular economy and of course to our uh European European Union uh to the Philippines team uh for fueling the uh circular business practices through the green economy program. Uh I will not miss this to
1:03:52 acknowledge my colleagues at the global compact network Philippines. Uh the team is complete from the secretariat team to our officers of course. uh very much honored to serve um this organization championing the role of businesses including SMMES which we belong in advancing sustainability. So to um share about bio we are a Filipino and proud fashion company and we have been in the industry for more than 30 years now. We belong in a highly intensive a resource intensive industry and so that made us rethink uh how do we go from here maybe later on I can share you share to you why but let me just
1:04:38 focus on uh my presentation because I have a 10-minute limit so we we do work within uh real constraints you know the cost pressures the supply chain volatility and the realities of a devel developing economy. Our decision to pursue circular economy was not driven by branding. It came from necessity and responsibility to remain viable as a business and relevant in a changing world. What I'll share today is our lived experience how circular economy is embedded in our vision, targets and business strategies and not and how it now delivers value for business performance, people and the planet. Next please.
1:05:25 At bioircular economy is core to how we make decisions and not just a side initiative. Early on we understood that sustainability especially for anme cannot be done alone. So here you can see um most of our partners and uh one potential partner I already added in anticipation but I did ask permission it's Tesla because what we do in bio is we also provide uh spaces for learning so that we can share what we do and hopefully with that we create as well sustainable livelihood programs and um the other parters ECCP is uh we are also part of uh ECCP and um
1:06:13 the others. So our engagement with institutions like the global compact of course and with government and all those um logos there it really um it it allows us to move from intention to really implement because we cannot do it alone. Um we can go to the next slide. This is our road map, the journey to zero initiative, our circular road map um towards sustainability. So we began with clear internal targets. It's quite small but if you look at it, it shows how materials are chosen from regenerative materials. We start from
1:06:58 the farmers support them so that we can get all those fibers in um responsible way and then we create materials out of them. We also use recycled uh pet bottles as a as an alternative and this process uh help us create livelihoods along the way. So we practice what we preach about shared prosperity. In this process as well we try to achieve to reduce textile waste. We started with zero waste. With that we lower our environmental footprint with think sourcing and production and over time these targets evolved.
1:07:45 This uh journey to zero was the point where we consciously moved away from a linear model to now a circular uh system. Our waste stopped being treated as loss and it actually became resource. Local sourcing became a strategy especially during the pandemic. Livelihood creation became part of the value chain. We are supporting a lot of communities building through the support of our foundation. And here we can see that circular economy um operates as a system influencing the way we design, we source, we produce and create partnerships. Next, please.
1:08:30 Climate change has challenged us to design better. It started as a campaign. Uh it's posted in all our bio stores. But I told our team, we will put that as long as the stickers are are still there. You know, we don't want to remove it because really it's very challenging and we want people to know that even if the challenge is there, you know, we we really walk the talk line because you know linear business models are high risk. That's a big re realization already and disruptive uh supply chains also increasing material cost and environmental vital volatility volatility made it clear that
1:09:15 circularity is not just ethical but also a strategic risk management. Designing better means designing for longevity for regeneration and for adaptability. Circular economy became a way to build business resilience, not just compliance. So as we progress on our journey to zero, we began to see its limits as well, but more importantly, its possibilities. Reducing waste was no longer enough to advance our growth responsibly. We needed to close the loop. Currently, we have two uh ways to close it. I don't have the sample and I've shown um this um recycled textile waste mixed with
1:10:02 plastic waste and it creates tiles, boards and it's an alternative to construction materials and at the same time um we have another one that brings back the retasos. So here are my props. In production, right, we do a lot of cutings. So these cutings are small pieces, but now we're able to upcycle them back to first to fiber like this. So we uh disintegrate the fabric offcuts into this and then to threads and then we combine them together to produce fabrics again. So this is one of the
1:10:49 hopefully we are I think we're very close to having funding for this. Um but I don't have the logo of the funer yet because it has not been official but um again it's proving that partnerships are essential. We are anme. We have limited resources but we have bigger dreams but with partners who believe that this solutions we create through the circular economy can actually provide opportunities. Imagine we don't have to import a lot because if we make them locally available then it solves the problem of higher cost. It can be costly at first, but if
1:11:37 it's scaled up, imagine all the manufacturing companies here in the Philippines providing us with their offcuts. Then we create new fabrics out of it. Livelihoods are generated and it can recycle back again and again. So to us, closing the loop is a serious business. It's really um an ambition that we had many years ago but because uh potential you know support uh was in the horizon and we came to know about it you know we um presented our case and good that we got their um validation. So hopefully the next time I see everybody
1:12:24 I'll be you know um telling you how scalability scalability can respond to the cost because as of now it's still high cost. I'm also using uh you know I love to model my my uh my item so it's an opportunity right. So this is handwoven and it's available in all bio stores. Um but you see here we used um threads that have been put aside because most of them were used for another order. But see you see how creativity can actually enhance a product because of the mixed colors of
1:13:10 the yarns. It created a pattern that is unique to to the collection that we have. But behind this are handw weavers livelihoods created and that's what makes our job inspiring you know okay later I will cry. So sorry the next one is um how text rev actually came about. So the samples I've shown you it's about textile revitalization which is a partnership between uh DOST department of science and technology and um under PTRI or the Philippine Textile Research Institute. I've already shared how it's done and
1:13:56 I've showed you the samples but this one really closes the loop at least for an for our industry. Fabric is applied not only to fashion. It can only be used for um furnitureures, right? Phillips is here. Yeah, we need to talk also for um we a falsey carpeting and you know everywhere you go there are fabrics. So imagine the potential of how this technology can be adopted. So after all of this, I wanted to share the impact of what we do. We have so many other projects, but 10 minutes really is
1:14:44 not enough. So I thought maybe I can reshare a video that we presented a testimonial directly from our communities. And this is the impact that is told many times over but is really continuing to tell the story. It continues to create impact. So thank you for this opportunity.
1:15:47 When we started working with bio many things has changed. We also experience using sustainable materials, natural uh fibers and textile offcuts. Uh in terms of production, we were able to stabilize our production for weavers that makes their income increased and it
1:16:32 also became efficient. daily. Junior High School. What's
1:17:37 foreign. I am Gino. at I'm Jenny and
1:18:22 we are Thank you, Miss Anna for sharing that inspiring story of Bio. As I've been telling Miss Anna, I mean, as a teenager and until, you know, I transition to become a professional, Bio is one of my favorite clothing brands here in the Philippines. Um, and I'm very happy to actually hear these types of stories like um of entrepreneurs working with our local artisans because we really have excellent artisans. Um and having brands like Bio promote them is really helpful for them also and not just their livelihoods but also to also improve
1:19:08 their communities as well and their lives as well. Um so our next speaker um is from Phil Inc. We have with us today Miss Lily Fuentes um chief operations officer. So um Miss Lily can you um join us on stage to um share your experience? Thank you, Grace and Anna. Very inspiring sharing. So, good morning everyone. It's a pleasure to be here and uh we'd like to thank you um for um asking us to to be part of the journey of circularity. No. And uh congratulations AIBA and GCNP for the huge undertaking. It's a huge undertaking and we're looking forward to
1:19:53 the impact that this partnership can can bring. So um slide please. Okay. So last year we marked our 45th year in the business and um as we celebrate this milestone we recognize that um luxury is not just defined by aesthetics, it is defined by responsibility. Next slide. At Philu luxury is defi defined by care. Um care in our designs, care in our sourcing and care in how our pieces will last. That is what we mean by conscious luxury and it is the foundation of our circular economy
1:20:38 approach. That foundation is guided by a clear sense of purpose. Next slide. Our vision tree is a visual manifestation of Philix's vision, mission, and purpose. We exist to champion Filipino craftsmanship with a global mindset. Circular economy allows us to grow while staying aligned with our values of quality, family, and growth and long-term value creation. So, as you can see, we have in our vision tree, sustainability, and societal impact. These values have been shaped over decades. Next slide. What began as a small family enterprise founded by Max and Zelda Kinlay in the photo has grown into a legacy brand built on
1:21:25 craftsmanship and discipline. In 45 years, we have evolved our materials, our processes, and our scale without losing our respect for craft. Today, that respect is expressed through circular economy principles. Next slide. Philux has expanded its material options and product line, offering timeless designs in addition to contemporary offerings, all made by highly skilled Filipino artisans practicing age-old techniques in combination with modern technology. Today, Phil is led by the second generation kinless. Stephanie Gonzalez at the left is our managing director and president and Jessica, our
1:22:10 vice president and creative director. Next. So we expanded our workshop no um to support our purpose of sharing our craft with a vast audience. Um we want to accommodate um more contract work of course which will give more work to our to our people and to also export so that we can share the pride of our Filipino crafts. Next, our sustainability journey starts with the materials we use. Our wood comes from responsibly managed forests and sustainably harvested around the world. Beyond timber and other materials, we are intentional in our designs in a culture of mass production and disposability.
1:22:58 We create pieces that are made to last, meant to be used, loved, and passed on from generation to generation. And this minimizes the waste and honors the resources that went into each piece. Next slide. Sustainability. Sustainability at Phill is not a single initiative. It is embedded across design, production, efficiency and impact. It gives structure to how we continuously improve across all these areas. This is evident in our showing in Manila fame last October um and um in
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