caritas philippines logo 2024

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:

  1. Archdiocese of Manila
  2. Diocese of Imus
  3. Archdiocese of Zamboanga – The Roman Catholic Archbishop Of Zamboanga 
  4. Diocese of Butuan – The Roman Catholic Bishop Of Butuan, Inc. 
  5. 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.
  6. Religious of the Virgin Mary
  7. Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga – Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Fernando

Stakeholders:

  1. Caritas La Union
  2. Caritas Gumaca
  3. Diocese of Lucena
  4. Integral Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Lucena
  5. Caritas Virac
  6. Diocese of Virac
  7. Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay
  8. Caritas Taytay
  9. Diocese of San Carlos
  10. Lunhaw – Diocese of San Carlos
  11. Diocese of Marbel
  12. Caritas Marbel
  13. Caritas Butuan
  14. Integral Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Butuan
  15. Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
  16. Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro Integral Ecology Ministry
  17. Caritas Calapan
  18. Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan
  19. Diocese of Digos
  20. Caritas Digos
  21. Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa
  22. Caritas Puerto Princesa
  23. Caritas Cabanatuan
  24. Caritas Imus
  25. Diocese of Tandag
  26. Integral Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Tandag
  27. Parish Social Action Center of Ubay, Bohol
  28. Caritas Catarman
  29. Diocese of Borongan
  30. Caritas Borongan
  31. Prelature of Infanta
  32. Caritas Bacolod
  33. Caritas Capiz
  34. Commission on Integral Ecology – Archdiocese of Capiz
  35. Caritas Ilagan
  36. Franciscans of our Lady of Divine Providence Sisters
  37. FLDP Gaudete et Exultate Community Development Foundation Inc.
  38. North Luzon Isabela SHeG Federation Inc.
  39. Caritas Baguio
  40. Diocese of Bayombong
  41. Caritas Bayombong
  42. Caritas San Pablo
  43. Caritas Zamboanga
  44. Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe
  45. Caritas Bontoc-Lagawe
  46. Diocese of Boac
  47. Caritas Boac
  48. Prelature of Marawi
  49. Diocese of Dipolog
  50. Caritas Dipolog
  51. Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk
  52. Caritas Tabuk
  53. Caritas Novaliches
  54. Diocese of Laguna – Iglesia Filipina Independiente
  55. Diocese of Pasig
  56. Caritas Pasig
  57. Diocese of Sorsogon
  58. Caritas Sorsogon
  59. Diocese of Kidapawan
  60. Caritas Kidapawan
  61. Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
  62. Caritas San Jose, Occidental Mindoro
  63. Caritas Nueva Segovia – Integral Ecology Ministry
  64. Diocese of Alaminos
  65. Caritas Alaminos
  66. Ecology Ministry – Diocese of Paranaque
  67. Diocese of Kabankalan
  68. Caritas Kabankalan 
  69. Archdiocese of Cebu 
  70. Diocese of Legazpi
  71. Diocese of Ilagan
  72. Military Ordinariate of the Philippines 
  73. Diocese of Kalookan 
  74. Archdiocese of Lipa
  75. Lipa Archdiocesan Social Action Center
  76. Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo