The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has agreed to advise Banco De Oro Unibank as it expands into energy efficiency and renewable energy markets.

Under the cooperation agreement, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide advisory services to BDO to give the local private sector appropriate financing for sustainable energy investments.
The agreement of BDO and IFC is also aimed to encourage more investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy that will help the country manage climate change.

“BDO sees a lot of investment potential in the energy efficiency and renewable energy markets, as well as in clean development mechanism finance,” Nestor V. Tan, BDO president said.

“We are glad to have IFC’s global expertise in sustainable energy finance complementing our deep understanding of the Philippine business environment. Together, we can promote greater use of environment-friendly energy sources,” he added.

BDO is the country's leading financial institution and the largest commercial bank.

IFC said that while the Philippines accounts for less than 0.01 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, its archipelagic territory makes it vulnerable to climate change.

Two typhoons hit the Philippines in late September 2009, causing property, infrastructure, and crop damage amounting to $4.38 billion. The typhoons directly affected 9.3 million people, according to an assessment done by the Department of Finance with the private sector.

“This agreement is part of IFC’s global efforts to help minimize the adverse effects of climate change, especially in developing economies which suffer the most from it,” Jesse Ang, IFC resident representative, said.