October 4, 2024
We, members of the Catholic Church and stakeholders of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), urge San Miguel Corporation to take concrete and significant steps to align with the Paris Agreement, particularly by moving away from fossil fuels and transitioning to renewable energy.
Pope Francis in 2015 published his encyclical on environmental stewardship, urging immediate action against climate change and stating that “technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels – especially coal, but also oil and, to a lesser degree, gas – needs to be progressively replaced without delay.” The Philippine Catholic community heeded this call: in 2019, Catholic bishops agreed to divest from dirty energy, such as coal. Three years later, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines affirmed its stance, urging the Church to use its “position as shareholders, clients, or stakeholders of financial institutions in and beyond the Philippines, but especially towards domestic banks, to demand for policies and plans to phase out their exposure to coal, fossil gas, and destructive energy in line with the 1.5°C ambition,” emphasizing that these actions are mandated by our responsibility to become the voice of those in the peripheries and to hold everyone accountable.
We are aware that SMC continues to operate and expand its coal power plants without any plans to shut down these assets early in line with the requisites of keeping global temperatures below 1.5C. Furthermore, the company aggressively expands its fossil gas operations and even chooses to build these infrastructures in biodiversity hotspots such as the Verde Island Passage. In SMC’s pursuit to grow its fossil fuel portfolio, the chartered tankers of its subsidiary have already caused an oil spill twice in just 17 months–severely affecting the ecosystem of the waters, taking the livelihood of thousands of fisherfolks, and endangered coastal households who depended on the richness of the waters for their subsistence.
These developments show the damages–of the environment, livelihood, and health–brought by SMC’s fossil fuel expansion. We, members of the Church, who have a responsibility towards our Common Home, are saddened that the resources we have entrusted to the company are being used to fuel such destruction.
As Pope Benedict XVI stated, “The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations, and towards humanity as a whole.” We believe San Miguel’s core purpose of “creating opportunities that will uplift generations of Filipinos” reflects this duty towards Filipinos.
We, therefore, urge San Miguel to take a decisive step to contribute to curbing global warming by diverting its resources away from dirty investments to cleaner ones and creating policies and concrete pathways that align with the Paris Goal to keep temperatures below 1.5C. To truly decarbonize its operations, the company has to forgo its fossil fuel assets and replace them with clean energy, that which does not cause more disturbance to the ecosystem as coal and even gas do. Commitments to reach Net-Zero are welcome but should be paired with actionable steps and a definite timeline, or else we are not properly reflecting the urgency Net-Zeroing requires.
We kindly remind the corporation of the Church’s 2025 commitment to withdraw its resources from corporations and financial institutions that fail to make policies that align with the Paris Agreement, and that continue to fuel dirty energy. Furthermore, we remind the corporation of its fiduciary duty to us, its shareholders: to avoid exposing stockholders to legal, financial, social, and environmental risks and liabilities regarding problematic investments. It is in this line that we also call for San Miguel to be transparent as to how it manages and mitigates risks associated with fossil fuel projects and its pathway toward achieving its climate commitments. We, members of the Church and shareholders of the corporation, urge the company to take the right steps and act according to its capability to contribute to protecting Our Common Home, as this is the only way we can ensure global solidarity and social justice.
Thank you very much.
Signed:
Shareholders:
- Archdiocese of Manila
- Diocese of Imus
- Archdiocese of Zamboanga – The Roman Catholic Archbishop Of Zamboanga
- Diocese of Butuan – The Roman Catholic Bishop Of Butuan, Inc.
- Diocese of Cabanatuan – Roman Catholic Bishop Of Cabanatuan Inc., Represented In This Act By Most Reverend Vicente P. Reyes, D. D., Bishop Of Cabanatuan And Acting For And In Behalf Of The Maria Assumpta, Etc.
- Religious of the Virgin Mary
- Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga – Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Fernando
Stakeholders:
- Caritas La Union
- Caritas Gumaca
- Diocese of Lucena
- Integral Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Lucena
- Caritas Virac
- Diocese of Virac
- Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay
- Caritas Taytay
- Diocese of San Carlos
- Lunhaw – Diocese of San Carlos
- Diocese of Marbel
- Caritas Marbel
- Caritas Butuan
- Integral Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Butuan
- Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
- Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro Integral Ecology Ministry
- Caritas Calapan
- Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan
- Diocese of Digos
- Caritas Digos
- Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa
- Caritas Puerto Princesa
- Caritas Cabanatuan
- Caritas Imus
- Diocese of Tandag
- Integral Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Tandag
- Parish Social Action Center of Ubay, Bohol
- Caritas Catarman
- Diocese of Borongan
- Caritas Borongan
- Prelature of Infanta
- Caritas Bacolod
- Caritas Capiz
- Commission on Integral Ecology – Archdiocese of Capiz
- Caritas Ilagan
- Franciscans of our Lady of Divine Providence Sisters
- FLDP Gaudete et Exultate Community Development Foundation Inc.
- North Luzon Isabela SHeG Federation Inc.
- Caritas Baguio
- Diocese of Bayombong
- Caritas Bayombong
- Caritas San Pablo
- Caritas Zamboanga
- Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe
- Caritas Bontoc-Lagawe
- Diocese of Boac
- Caritas Boac
- Prelature of Marawi
- Diocese of Dipolog
- Caritas Dipolog
- Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk
- Caritas Tabuk
- Caritas Novaliches
- Diocese of Laguna – Iglesia Filipina Independiente
- Diocese of Pasig
- Caritas Pasig
- Diocese of Sorsogon
- Caritas Sorsogon
- Diocese of Kidapawan
- Caritas Kidapawan
- Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
- Caritas San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
- Caritas Nueva Segovia – Integral Ecology Ministry
- Diocese of Alaminos
- Caritas Alaminos
- Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Paranaque
- Diocese of Kabankalan
- Caritas Kabankalan
- Archdiocese of Cebu
- Diocese of Legazpi
- Diocese of Ilagan
- Military Ordinariate of the Philippines
- Diocese of Kalookan
- Archdiocese of Lipa
- Lipa Archdiocesan Social Action Center
- Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo