“Leave No One Behind” was the message that resonated with the participants of the Lopez group Toolkit Session as the Sustainable Development Goals were discussed by speakers from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) , the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the First Philippine Holdings Sustainability team. On September 20 at the 5th Floor of the Rockwell Business Center Tower 3, The Lopez Group Foundation Inc. (LGFI) held its last toolkit session for 2017 attended by 49 participants from 19 Lopez companies and foundations with the theme “Strengthening Private Sector Investment in Development through the SDGs”. The whole day activity gave an overview of the 17 goals, 169 targets and 232 indicators that does not only continue the gains of the MDGs in addressing global development concerns by focusing on poverty and income inequity but also “ address the drivers of change such as economic growth, job creation, reduced inequality and innovation that makes better and more judicious use of resources”.
In her opening statement, LGFI’s President and Executive Director Cedie Lopez-Vargas said that the “Lopez Group is not far behind in addressing these concerns. Sustainability has always been a major concern in the Lopez group, both in our CSR and most especially in the way we do business.” She stressed that “sustainability is the driver that pushed us to embrace clean energy and invest in renewable source of power.”
One major objective of the toolkit session is to familiarize the various Lopez companies and foundations on the SDGs to facilitate the CSR investment reporting of the Lopez Group starting with 2016, which will be done in line with the SDG goals and targets and will be collated and reported to the public by LGFI. This will make the reporting of social development investments more relevant and as Ms. Angela Lopez enunciated in her closing speech, that no matter how “diverse our development initiatives are, we remain one Lopez and we can show our public that it does take more than “caring, passion and commitment to change the world. It takes all our hearts, hands and minds working together for a common goal, a shared dream of improving the lives of others”. This is as we say, THE LOPEZ WAY.”
