MANILA, PHILIPPINES — As the world faces various threats to the environment such as pollution and deforestation, it’s vital for individuals and institutions to take substantial action and prioritize environmental sustainability for all sectors. This was one of the key points highlighted during the Earth Hour virtual launch by the WorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines, which was co-presented by GCash, the country’s leading mobile wallet.
During the event, WWF-Philippines invited Filipinos to turn off their lights during the annual celebration of Earth Hour on March 26 at 8:30 P.M local time, as a symbol of a broader commitment toward the planet. This year’s Earth Hour, with the theme “Shape the Future,” aimed to put forward a broader call to action for individuals to step towards living sustainably and for companies and governments to help build an equitable, nature-positive, and net-zero carbon future.
“At GCash, we strive to help over 55 million Filipinos live better and have efficient and more environmentally friendly transactions. Global movements like Earth Hour will always be relevant as its advocacy is not just for the protection of the environment, but it also carries the foundation of our way of life and the world. GCash is proud to join the annual observance of this symbolic switching-off of non-essential lights for an hour, which is an important call for climate action, especially in these crucial times,” said GCash President and CEO Martha Sazon.
WWF Energy Program Head and Earth Hour National Director Atty. Angela Ibay added, “Through Earth Hour, we want to engage over a billion people worldwide and engage decision-makers whether in business, institutions, and governments, to move the agenda of nature up the priority list in the global sphere and in the national agenda. We want people to lend their voices as we’re shaping our future, and hopefully, we’ll be changing the ending for the positive – for both people and the planet.”
As a financial institution that supports environmental sustainability, GCash is one with the mission of WWF Philippines to protect the environment by helping people lessen their carbon footprint. GCash encourages subscribers to shift to paperless billing for their transactions and lessen pollution through its safe, sustainable, and convenient digital financial products on the GCash app such as Pay Bills, Send Money, GLife for shopping for essentials, GSave for a savings account, GInvest for investments, GInsure for insurance, and many more.
GCash is also the only fintech company in the Philippines to have a sustainability feature integrated within its app, which is the GForest feature. Users can earn green energy points and use these points to plant virtual trees. These virtual trees will then be converted to actual trees by GCash. They can earn green energy points by using various cashless services of GCash and every time they walk if they enable GCash to access their health app or fitness tracker.
Having started as a symbolic event in Sydney, Australia in 2007, Earth Hour has become a global celebration and has grown into one of the world’s largest grassroots environmental movements spanning over 7,000 cities and 193 countries and territories.
WWF-Philippines Executive Director Katherine Custodio was also present for this important event. The Earth Hour virtual launch was hosted by Filipino physicist and Miss Earth Philippines 2017 Karen Ibasco and WWF Philippines National Ambassador Rovilson Fernandez.
“This important partnership with WWF-Philippines underscores our strong desire to ensure GCash’s environment, social and governance (ESG) aspiration is in place, and in fact, brought to life. As we recently announced planting 1 million trees nationwide via our GForest program, we are positive that together with our partners like WWF, GCash will be able to further champion environmental stewardship in our homes and work places,” adds Chito Maniago, VP for Corporate Communications and Public Affairs of GCash.
GCash, together with WWF Philippines, encourages Filipinos to help the environment in whatever way they can – big or small.
To use GForest and the other carbon-footprint saving features on GCash, you can download the GCash app for free via the Google Play or App Store.
