For Sustainability PH Co-Founder and Vice President Shawntel Nieto, sustainability extends beyond environmental efforts. During an interview, she emphasized that acts of kindness, respect, and embracing the Filipino value of \u201ckapwa\u201d or the shared sense of humanity are already expressions of sustainable living.<\/p>\n
\u201cSustainability is not just about the environment; it\u2019s also about the people. Being a good neighbor is in and by itself a radical act of sustainability already,\u201d said Nieto. She highlighted how everyday actions like following traffic rules or helping marginalized groups can foster a culture of sustainability. These small, mindful choices, she said, are already meaningful steps toward lasting change.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood governance is also important. Where you are, where you can, say no to corruption, even at the very petty level\u2026say no,\u201d urged Nieto while adding that \u201cit\u2019s through these small but consistent acts that we get to contribute towards changing our culture towards sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Brundtland Report introduced the most widely accepted definition of sustainable development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.<\/p>\n
Considering the advanced sustainable practices of other countries, driven by institutional initiatives that promote collective awareness among their constituents, and by natural surroundings that foster a deeper connection to sustainability, Nieto explained that the discipline of sustainability tends to be more evident in nations that are generally more economically advanced.<\/p>\n
Nieto said, \u201cI think it has also to do with the fact that for these countries, many of their social welfare needs are met, and met well. And so people are also less stressed, and they have the bandwidth emotionally, mentally, and operationally to be able to look into issues that are greater than them because they are not hyper-focused on having to fend and survive for themselves and their family which is what is happening for many of our people today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Insightfully, she shared that Filipinos are neither distant from nor unfamiliar with the concept of sustainability, particularly because we face significant vulnerability to the consequences of an unsustainable world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the floods, we know the pollution, we know all of these things and we feel it every day, our people feel it every day. And so we also know how to adapt, but as a concept, we\u2019re not as familiar with the technicalities of \u201csustainability\u201d as a discipline because we also don\u2019t have that much of a bandwidth to focus on it. Our MSMEs [Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises] have to survive to continue operating. Our average Filipino family has to worry about where their family is going to eat for the day. So, we don\u2019t have much time to learn or to talk about the \u2018technicalities of being sustainable\u2019 or to talk about it with others, but we know the risks, we feel the risks and in our own ways we\u2019re trying to adapt. The question is: how do we scale and improve these adaptations and solutions?\u201d explained Nieto.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of President Dave Devilles, the Sustainability PH or the Society of Sustainability Practitioners PH is building a community that can champion sustainability within their own contexts. Guided by its four pillars Capacity, Community, Change, and Conversations, Sustainability PH\u2019s goal is to surface sustainable solutions from everyday challenges, empower Filipinos to take ownership over these, and foster growth by showing how these efforts directly benefit them.<\/p>\n
Devilles said \u201cSustainability at its core is about people. We often speak of the triple bottom line, People, Planet, and Profit. But let\u2019s be honest: it starts with People. When we capacitate people, the solutions for the planet can be found. When communities are empowered, profit becomes more inclusive and responsible. And when human dignity is at the center, sustainability becomes more than a buzzword, it becomes a lived reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recently, their members and partners gathered at Monde Nissin\u2019s Gungho Hall for #SustainPinas: Sustainability PH Fellowship 2025 to usher in a new chapter for Sustainability PH. Among the highlights of the activity was a keynote speech on sustainability and good governance by Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, who also led the induction of the organization’s new leaders. The event was attended by the Sustainability PH’s alumni network and its new institutional partners to include Climate Fresk, Asia Engine for Net Zero, JCI QC Capitol, and Prometheus. <\/p>\n
Capstone projects such as Ajinomoto\u2019s Plastic Recovery System, First Philippine Holdings\u2019 Watershed Management Policy, and the Sustainability Reports and Materiality Analyses of Home Credit and other companies, initiated by their Learn2Lead graduates, demonstrate the broader impact and affirm the work of Sustainability PH. Learn2Lead is a practical, 10-week hybrid, cohort-based program designed for sustainability practitioners, focusing on both the theory and practice of sustainability management.<\/p>\n
The said Filipino-led, volunteer-driven movement is not just about launching projects and programs. Nieto explained that these efforts aim to cultivate more sustainability leaders, build a critical mass of changemakers, and ultimately shift Philippine culture, behavior, and systems.<\/p>\n
Shawntel Nieto said \u201cWhen I talk about creating that critical mass of people, what we want is for the movement to reach a point where the whole thing [Philippine society and culture] tilts, and shifts; where sustainability shifts from something impossible to something inevitable, from what was once a niche to what becomes the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sustainability PH\u2019s movement highlights how kindness, governance, and community-driven action can turn sustainability from a distant concept into an inevitable cultural shift for every Filipino.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":257667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19606],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-future-ready"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":{"nxtgen_comments":[{"948":"wow galing naman sustainability ph \ud83d\udc9a\ud83c\udf0d\r","949":"\ud83c\udf31\ud83d\ude4f\ud83d\udc9a\r","950":"napaka thoughtful \ud83d\udc9a\r","951":"gud gud sustain ph fellows jejeje \ud83c\udf38\ud83c\udf31\r","952":"sobrang proud dito \ud83d\udc9a\r"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=257666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257668,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257666\/revisions\/257668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/257667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=257666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=257666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatic-fuchsia-armadillo.46-250-226-234.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=257666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}