THE Philippines remains one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate change, making the climate crisis a consistent priority among governments, companies and businesses, and local stakeholders.

To mitigate the effects of climate change, the Philippines has committed to reducing 75 percent of its emissions by 2030 and scaling up efforts toward low-carbon and climate-resilient initiatives.

With such ambitious targets, synergies between the public and private sectors are looked upon to provide coordinated and targeted support toward more sustainable business models, sustainable financing, and investments in climate resiliency.

It is against this backdrop that the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) and Dutch banking giant ING have announced their renewed partnership for 2023 with ING as the ECCP's exclusive banking partner for the year.

"We have had a long-standing relationship with ING as our member since 1991, so we are honored to extend this partnership to focus and weigh in on areas of sustainability, as well as ESG financing and transition in business," said Florian Gottein, ECCP executive director.

ING has been the exclusive banking partner of the Chamber since 2022. The renewed partnership will provide ING, which has been operating in the Philippines since 1990, with a platform to continue lending its global expertise to European businesses and to Philippine companies with a European focus.

At the same time, ING emphasized that one of the biggest challenges the world faces today is climate change.

As a bank, ING recognizes that its greatest impact comes from its financing and advisory activities.

"At ING, we see that concerted collaborative and consensus-based efforts are needed to accelerate climate-action and mission-oriented business," said ING Country Manager Jun Palanca. "This is why we engage with partners such as ECCP, whose sustainability-related advocacies have deeply resonated with our bank."