At the end of the course, you will:

1. Understand the imminent threats of climate change to the world, and more specifically, in the Philippines;
2. Appreciate what various Philippine regulators and lawmakers are doing to address climate change;
3. Learn about the different sustainable finance solutions available and how they can be applied; and
4. Determine how you and other institutions can participate in the deepening of the sustainable finance market that will help the Philippines’ strategy on climate change.

I. Climate Change Challenge
    A. Paris Agreement
    B. UN Sustainable Development Goals
    C. Philippines Snapshot on Climate Change
    D. Examples of initiatives undertaken by sovereigns

II. Philippines’ Commitment
    A. Climate Change Commission
    B. BSP – Sustainability Finance Framework
    C. SEC – Sustainability Reporting
    D. Amendments to the Agri-Agra Law

III. Sustainability Finance Products
    A. Green / Social / Sustainability Bonds / Loans
    B. Sustainability-linked Bonds / Loans
    C. Green / Social / Sustainability Bonds / Loans Framework
    D. Philippine specific Case Studies
        1. AC Energy Green Bonds
        2. Manila Water Social Bonds
        3. RCBC Sustainability Bonds
        4. BPI COVID-19 CARE Bonds
    E. ESG Investments

IV. Challenges for the Philippines
    A. Limitations as an emerging economy
    B. Regulations
    C. Issuer motivations
    D. Investor preferences

Mr. Jaime Alejandro F. Mendejar is a seasoned banker with over 17 years of experience. He is based in Hong Kong where he is currently Senior Manager, Sustainable Finance for Commercial Banking, Asia Pacific. In this regional role, Mr. Mendejar is responsible for business development and origination, which includes identifying, structuring, and executing sustainable finance solutions for HSBC’s corporate clients across 17 markets in Asia. These solutions support the implementation of the sustainability strategies of HSBC’s diverse corporate customer base and contribute to HSBC’s commitment to raise between $750 billion to $1 trillion in financing for its customers by 2030. 

Prior to this role, Mr. Mendejar was Senior Vice President and Head of Financial Institutions Group and Public Sector at HSBC Philippines. He led a team that managed relationships across multinational and local banks, insurance companies, asset managers, multilateral agencies, and government corporations. He also actively engaged with Philippine regulators and government agencies on sustainability initiatives and assisted banks and the sovereign issue award-winning green, social and sustainability bonds. He spent 12 years as an investment banker in Debt Capital Markets, executing hundreds of local and global bond deals, some of which were first of their kind – including the first public offshore green bonds for a Philippine corporation, and ASEAN’s first COVID-response social bond by a financial institution.

Outside of HSBC, Mr. Mendejar designed and taught the first sustainable finance course at the Ateneo Professional Schools – Center for Continuing Education. He is also a published author, and his works have been in Scopus-indexed international journals. His research focuses on sustainable finance challenges in the Philippines, some of which have won awards, including the 2023 Outstanding Scholarly Work Award for the John Gokongwei School of Management at the Ateneo de Manila University. He also won the 2023 Sustainability Leadership Awards for Sustainability Education and Communication Leadership by SustainabilityPH, recognizing Filipino sustainability leaders under 40 across a variety of sectors.

He is concurrently pursuing his Masters in Sustainability Management and has a certificate from London Business School on Sustainability Leadership and Corporate Responsibility.