FPH commits support for gov’t, UN international gathering on disaster risk reduction
FPH Chairman and CEO Federico R. Lopez (second from left) signs with DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga (third from left) a memorandum of agreement, under which FPH joins other private companies pledging support for the government to co-host with the UNDRR a large international conference in Manila on disaster risk reduction. Also in photo are Noralene Uy, DENR assistant secretary; and Marco Toscano-Rivalta, head of the UNDRR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH) has pledged support for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) that the Philippine government and a United Nations body will co-host next month in Manila.
Federico R. Lopez, FPH chairman and CEO, joined other top business executives whose companies committed to serve as sponsors of the APMCDRR under a memorandum of agreement (MOA) finalized with Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga on Tuesday, 03 September 2024.
The Philippine government, led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), will co-host the APMCDRR at the Philippine International Convention Center from Oct. 14 to 18, 2024.
This large international gathering will bring together representatives from governments, intergovernmental, international, national and civil society organizations, the private sector, science, academia and stakeholder groups to accelerate progress in reducing disaster risk.
The conference will provide an important opportunity to review risk reduction efforts, share innovative solutions and make actionable commitments to accelerate disaster risk reduction by 2030 in the world’s most disaster-prone region.
As one of the private sector sponsors of the APMCDRR, FPH will provide resources to help the DENR co-host the conference.
FPH will also present during the gathering the disaster risk reduction programs and projects of its subsidiary First Gen Corporation, as well as those of the Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management Foundation, Inc., a non-profit think tank also known as the Oscar M. Lopez Climate Change Center or OML Center.
FPH, one of the country’s largest and oldest conglomerates, has a long history of supporting advocacies not only to protect but to enhance the environment. Its subsidiary First Gen has the Philippines’ largest portfolio of power plants that use clean, low-carbon and renewable energy (RE) sources.
First Gen’s 30 power plants have 3,668 megawatts (MW) of combined capacity, including 1,651 MW of RE capacity — the largest among Philippine power companies — from 26 facilities that use solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy. Its four other power plants with over 2,000 MW of capacity run on natural gas, the cleanest form of fossil fuel.
Named in honor of the late patriarch and father of the current FPH chairman and CEO, the OML Center is envisioned as an institution that supports the generation of the science and technology needed for building resilient communities.
The think tanks works closely with decision-makers of business and policy, the groups with the greatest capacity for sustained climate action. The OML Center gives these decision-makers the information and the tools they need to make climate-smart risk management decisions.
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