Globe aligns its four focus areas with the recently launched United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals which allows it to contribute to nine of the Global Goals
At least 193 member states of the United Nations gathered last September 25-27, 2015 in New York City to find a common language to lessen the more critical problems plaguing the global human society.
One hundred fifty heads of state including National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, officially adopted the universal, integrated and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to spur actions that will end poverty and build a more sustainable world over the next 15 years. This agenda contains 17 goals and 169 targets.
Balisacan welcomed the inclusion of Philippine priorities in the 2030 Agenda such as migration, vulnerabilities, collective action for conservation and inequality of opportunities even as he pledged “to make the 2030 Agenda a reality and to leave no one behind.”
Supporting the Philippine agenda, the country’s leader in mobile communications, Globe Telecom, adopted nine of the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of its four-point program to create positive impact to society. Believing that Information and Communications Technology or ICT will play a vital role in shaping societies of the future, Globe is at the forefront of aligning its business to provide long term value through technology-based products and services.
“We are highly capable of creating positive change in this country. By fulfilling our mission to create a wonderful world for people, businesses and the nation, we are looking out for the viability and relevance of ICT to millions of Filipinos over the long term. More than this, our commitment to the UN SDGs gives us a shared purpose with business and leaders across nations throughout the world,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe Chief Sustainability Officer.
Four-Point Program
As an innovative telecommunications company, Globe is anchoring its key initiatives on the following four-point program: Care for the Environment, Care for our People, Positive Societal Impact, and Digital Nation.
Care for the Environment. Globe is guided by its Environmental Sustainability Policy launched in 2003 and revised in 2010, ensuring that it lessens any environmental impact in the course of its business operations. To mitigate climate change, Globe helped reduce 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide through recycling and properly disposing 230,000 kilograms of waste materials using Project 1 Phone. Around 122 hectares of land are adopted by Globe through its tree planting programs. Solid waste is reduced by having 1.1 million postpaid customers subscribe to paperless billing. Energy efficiency is practiced by equipping 35 cell sites in the Globe network with renewable energy and about 1,000 more with energy-saving methods as the company continues to expand coverage. Proceeds from the waste material buy-back programs have also been used to build 46 new classrooms in Aklan.
Care for our People. Globe promotes a culture of collaboration, diversity and equal opportunity. Among employees it has several engagement activities ranging from sports, arts and wellness, to learning and culture which consistently promote high internal engagement scores. It has a robust volunteering policy that allows employees two days volunteer time off (VTO) as a key employee benefit to give employees the opportunity to share their time, treasure, and talent for underserved communities and children. In 2015, Globe employees shared almost 13,000 man hours and donated P1.2 million to help others. As a testament, Globe was recognized as Best Workforce by Sustainability Business Philippines and Best Place to Work in Asia by Asian Corporate Sustainability Excellence in 2014.
By putting Customers First as the primary value of The Globe Way, the company has transformed its culture into a service-oriented, customer-centric organization. Wonderful surprises for customers were given at the Globe Stores during key launches such as Disney, HOOQ, and Chromecast. Because Globe treats vendor partner employees as their own, over 8,000 third party agents from the call center, store frontliners, and broadband installers were given an immersion into the culture of Globe through the Up! Your Service program.
Positive Societal Impact. Globe continues to create shared value as it transforms and empowers underserved communities through innovative solutions. Last year, Globe helped 466,000 families in 33 cities and municipalities gain access to social and health services which include 16,000 customers subscribed to the telehealth service, KonsultaMD. Internet connectivity for 1,467 public schools allows over 700,000 students to learn beyond the classroom through the Global Filipino Schools program. With innovation driving business growth, Kickstart, the venture capital subsidiary of Globe earmarked US$4 million for Seed- to Early-Stage startups, and US$50 million to boost the expansion of Growth-Stage high-potential startups across a portfolio of 25 start-ups.
Mainstreaming sustainable livelihood to over one million sari-sari stores and distributors, Globe provides its load retailers with additional income opportunities through the AutoloadMax (AMAX) program. Assisted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) through their Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, almost 100,000 families augment the revenue generated by their sari-sari stores and aid them along the road to self-sufficiency with AMAX.
Digital Nation. Today, Globe is the purveyor of the Filipino digital lifestyle. It continues to provide wonderful global content and value-added services to make sure that it keeps abreast of changing lifestyle needs and preferences. It corners the largest share of smartphone users in the country, promoting strong partnerships with local and international device manufacturers like Samsung and Cherry Mobile.
Globe recognizes that as Filipinos live in a highly-connected world, there is a need to manage the impact of digital products to the consumers. For instance, text spam and scams have been a persistent problem among customers, such that, this is being addressed by a multiple platform with complex anti-spam mechanism to block at least 300,000 spam messages a day. Customers can report cases of fraudulent text messages through our #StopSPAM site atwww.globe.com.ph/stopspam.
With over one million commuters using the MRT and LRT lines daily, Globe utilized the GCash platform to deliver the first value-added card to be beep ready with the GCash Beep Mastercard. This allows cardholders to load and pay for their MRT and LRT trips easily while maintaining the functionality of an ATM and debit card. Since its launch, there are over 55,000 GCash Beep Mastercard in circulation.
Monitoring progress across its various programs, Globe discloses its impacts through the Annual Sustainability Report which uses the Global Reporting Initiative standard. Adopting new ways to better serve its customers, having foresight of trends in the future and promoting advocacies that will support the larger community, Globe continues to make a difference in the lives of its customers and stakeholders by creating a #WonderfulPH.
