Author: pcepsdi_org

WWF, PCEPSDI, and DOT conduct Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Inception Workshop for the Local Food Service Industry Photo © Pamela Luber / WWF-Philippines The participants of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Inception Workshop come from the government, both national and local, the food service industry, and civil society organisations. Last February 13, 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines’ The Sustainable Diner: A Key Ingredient for Sustainable Tourism project hosted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Inception Workshop at the New DOT Building in Makati City, in partnership with The Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI) and the Department of Tourism – Philippines (DOT). The particular workshop focused on the application and implementation of LCA in the context of the local food service industry, which is one of the major project outputs requiring the full cooperation of stakeholders from the government and the private sector. Photo © Pamela Luber / WWF-Philippines  Dr. Alvin Culaba (DLSU) and Mr. June Alvarez (PCEPSDI) equipping the participants with LCA basics and methodologies in relation to its application for the local food service industry. The LCA Inception Workshop is a one-day workshop on the fundamentals and the importance of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) based on ISO 14040 International Standards and ISO 14024 Standards – Ecolabelling Guiding Principles and Procedures. It also introduces the National Ecolabelling Programme – Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP) and its process among participants. Photo © Pamela Luber / WWF-Philippines Ms. Melody Melo-Rijk (WWF-Philippines) introduces The Sustainable Diner project and its objectives to key stakeholders. Undersecretary Rolando Cañizal of the DOT’s Administration and Special Concerns Sector (DOT-ASC) opened the workshop by officially welcoming the participants, followed by an introduction on The Sustainable Diner project, discussed by Ms. Melody Melo-Rijk, WWF’s Project Manager for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Philippines. Mr. June Alvarez, President and Executive Director of PCEPSDI, shared with the participants his knowledge on sustainable consumption and production in order to level everyone’s understanding of the concept as well as their expectations from the workshop. Dr. Alvin Culaba of the De La Salle University conducted the bulk of the workshop on LCA, starting with an introduction to the process, its application to the local food service industry in relation to the tourism industry, and a discussion on the various simplified methodologies associated with LCA. The afternoon session covered the main workshop activity, which involved having the participants split into four groups, each coming up with an LCA on their assigned food service category. The workshop ended with an in-depth discussion on Ecolabelling and Green Choice Philippines conducted by Ms. Maureen Grace Lebria, PCEPSDI’s Programme Director. Photo © Pamela Luber / WWF-Philippines  Mr. Dino Calderon (WWF-Philippines) and Mr. Muneer Hinay (WWF-Philippines) sharing their workshop activity results and LCA application to the rest of the participants. All in all, it was a very fruitful whole-day session where participants got to immediately apply all the principles they learned in the morning, seeing its relevance to their respective departments and units, and inspiring everyone in the room to collaborate for the implementation of sustainable consumption and production in the country’s tourism industry. The Sustainable Diner project, under WWF-Philippines’ Sustainable Consumption and Production, is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.​

PCEPSDI and WWF promote Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Philippine Food Service Industry Photo © Pamela Luber / WWF-Philippines  Joel Palma, President and CEO of WWF-Philippines, signs the Memorandum of Agreement with June Alvarez, President and Executive Director of PCEPSDI. The promotion and implementation of sustainable consumption and production practices in the local food service industry will be reinforced further as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines, through its The Sustainable Diner: A Key Ingredient for Sustainable Tourism project, recently inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with The Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI). Following the MOA signing were in-depth discussions on the formulation of a criteria focused on the food service industry, highlighting how food service establishments contribute greatly to the country’s growth, as well as the industry’s eventual effects to significant food and environmental issues in the country and recommendations on how to integrate sustainability in the industry to mitigate negative impacts. WWF-Philippines’ The Sustainable Diner project team discussed several important issues and partnership next steps with PCEPSDI. L-R: Kiko Velhagen (Project Coordinator, PCEPSDI), Diana Rose Sadili (Project Officer, PCEPSDI), Joel Palma (President and CEO, WWF-Philippines), June Alvarez (President and Executive Director, PCEPSDI), Melody Melo-Rijk (Project Manager for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Philippines, WWF-Philippines), Liezl Stuart Del Rosario (Policy Specialist, WWF-Philippines), and Alexa Jeanne Lasch (Food Service Specialist, WWF-Philippines) “PCEPSDI as one of the pioneer organizations in ecolabelling is a key ingredient in mainstreaming sustainability in the business sector”,’ says Palma. “WWF-Philippines, through The Sustainable Diner project, welcomes this partnership as we continue to explore ways on how we can help different sectors make their operations more environment-friendly.” PCEPSDI is a non-stock, non-profit, and non-government organization duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PCEPSDI is the administrator of the National Ecolabelling Programme-Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP). NELP-GCP is an ISO 14024 application of environmental albel lead by DENR-EMB and DTI-BPS. The Sustainable Diner project, under WWF-Philippines’ Sustainable Consumption and Production, is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.​

  Key Private Sector Actors panel members together with representatives from WWF, DOT, and UNEP. L-R: Mr. June Alvarez (Executive Director and President, PCEPSDI), Mr. Rolando Canizal (Undersecretary for Administration and Special Concerns, Department of Tourism), Dr. Benigno Glenn Ricaforte (Associate Professor, School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management, De La Salle College of Saint Benilde), Ms. Melody Melo-Rijk (Project Manager for Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Philippines, WWF-Philippines), Ms. Jamie Ann Dichaves (Sustainability and Pollution Control Officer, Lio Tourism Estate, El Nido Resorts), Engr. Charlton Materum (Technical Expert, GrAT-Center for Appropriate Technology, Zero Carbon Resorts for Sustainable Tourism), and Ms. Helena Rey (Programme Officer, UNEP) Transforming Local Tourism Value Chains through Sustainable Consumption and Production Members of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines’ The Sustainable Diner: A Key Ingredient for Sustainable Tourism project team were invited to attend the 2nd Conference and Workshop on Transforming Tourism Value Chains in Developing Countries and Small Islands and Developing States (SIDS) to Accelerate More Resource Efficient, Low Carbon Development Projects last November 22, 2017 at Hotel H2O in Manila City. Hosted by the Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc. (PCEPSDI), in partnership with the UN Environment Programme, Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the UNEP-DTU Partnership, and the Department of Tourism (DOT), the second leg of the workshop aims to consolidate best practices from the government, the private sector, and civil society, and to come up with industry and community-based solutions in order to promote low carbon and sustainable development in the tourism industry. During the first leg of the workshop, Department of Tourism (DOT) Undersecretary Rolando Cañizal validated the need for a long-term tourism strategy which will adopt sustainable consumption and production principles in order for the Philippines to achieve green economic growth. A key development pillar that generates high economic gains for the country, tourism contributed 8.2% to the GDP last 2016. Usec. Cañizal has made it a priority initiative for the department to move towards greening the local tourism industry and incorporating the necessary environmental standards. The four-year project funded also by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) Programme has targeted two key tourism zones in the country: Metro Manila and Iloilo City. Ms. Melody Melo-Rijk, Project Manager of Sustainable Consumption and Production in the Philippines, was invited as panel speaker for the Key Private Sector Actors Driving GHG/RE Action panel discussion, where she shared details and initial achievements of The Sustainable Diner project and how sustainable dining is a key ingredient towards achieving a sustainable tourism industry here in the Philippines – an industry heavily-dependent not just on our country’s natural beauty, but also our unique local cuisine and rapidly-growing dining scene. “Filipinos love food, and this love for food is seen not just in our daily lives but also whenever we travel. Food is a big part of what makes traveling very memorable for us, which is why The Sustainable Diner project was created in the first place – to address the need to implement sustainable consumption and production practices in the local dining scene,” says Ms. Melo-Rijk. “Our long-term plan for making the local tourism industry more environment-friendly should take into account the contribution of the food service industry, so that together we can come up with holistic solutions towards greening and improving our present system, especially on the issue on food waste. Furthermore, we want to revolutionize the food service industry in gearing them towards sustainability and to also serve as catalyst to spread awareness to diners.” The Sustainable Diner project, under WWF-Philippines’ Sustainable Consumption and Production, is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.​

The continuing green fervour that aims to advance climate-smart businesses and concur the country’s commitments on global actions for Climate Change, a group formed to advance Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) in the country is hugging the lime lights at the next staging of the “Kaliksan Green Productivity, Green Purchasing Towards Green Philippines 2017”, launched earlier by the country’s leading sustainability advocates. With the Senate approving on second hearing the revisions for the Paris Treaty, this year’s event theme hopes to complement this feat with its theme: “Advancing Sustainable Consumption and Production in Addressing Climate Challenges”. A Memorandum of Cooperation was forged between 14 public and private organizations, among them DENR, DTI, DOST, DOT, Quezon City LGU, SM Supermalls, Ayala Land, Philippine Green Building Council, Philippine Business for the Environment, Foreign Chamber Council of the Philippines and the Philippine Wood Producers Association, that was endorsed by the Senate President Aquilino “KOKO” Pimentel III, as one of the supporting personalities of the event. The event that was launched will take place on September 21-23 at the SMX Convention Center Manila, SM Mall of Asia Complex. In his Key Note speech at this Launching, Sen Koko Pimentel emphasized, “Addressing climate change is a central overriding concern of global actions for sustainability. The Philippines, in its commitment to the Paris Treaty for Climate Change, needs to shape its development agenda for the promotion of sustainable consumption and production.” Organized by the National Ecolabelling Programme-Green Choice Philippines (NELP-GCP), the advocacy event aims to gather increased commitments for deeper inroad actions in addressing climate challenges, and advancing sustainable consumption and production practices. For the last six years, the Kalikasan GP3 Expo Conference has served as a valuable forum and convergence for buyers’ increased awareness on green products available in the market; and the acquisition of knowledge and shared experiences on green business practices and production technologies. Garnering more than 200 local and international trade exhibitors in the past years, Kalikasan GP3 hopes to gather some 300 exhibitors and some 600 conference participants for this year. Green traders, manufacturers, service providers and the general public are all expected to benefit from the array of activities lined up for the three-day expo-conference. Also during the Launching, a back-to-back event celebrating the 14th Anniversary of NELP-GCP was highlighted by the awarding of citations to the men and women who had made the NELP-GCP a success. “With the continuous evolvement of the programme, we hope to gather more commitments for the adoption of sustainable production and consumption, to contribute to the country efforts on climate change mitigation and adaptation” pointed by Nereus Acosta, former Presidential Adviser for Environment Protection and presently the Chairperson of the Phil. Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc , which administers the NELP-GCP.