Lopez Group kicks off Environment Month via Lopez Envi Festival 2026

CAN refusing single-use plastics and properly disposing of old gadgets help address climate change? Can composting food scraps at home make a difference? Can learning how to read weather forecasts and prepare for the impacts of El Niño increase resilience? These questions may seem unrelated, but they all point to the same idea: every informed choice and action matters for the planet.

More than 70 Kapamilya from across the Lopez Group gathered on June 4 at the Rockwell Business Center Tower 3 for the Lopez Envi Festival 2026 kickoff marking the start of the Group’s celebration of Philippine Environment Month.

Guided by the theme “Kapamilya Para sa Kapaligiran: Climate Action Now,” the festival reflected a shared belief across the Lopez Group that being a Kapamilya means caring for one another, including the environment we all share.

Through learning sessions, interactive exhibits, film screenings and sustainability initiatives, the event aimed to inspire employees to understand today’s environmental challenges better and discover practical ways they can contribute to solutions in their workplaces, homes and communities.

The call for action comes at a time when environmental challenges continue to intensify. In his opening message, Dr. Rodel Lasco, Lopez Group Envi Cluster lead and executive director of Oscar M. Lopez (OML) Center, emphasized that climate and environmental risks remain among the world’s most urgent concerns.

“Four of the 10 risks in the next 10 years, according to the World Economic Forum, are extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, changes to Earth systems and natural resource shortages. It is alarming that these four are all about climate and the environment,” Lasco said.

But while the scale of the challenge may seem overwhelming, Lasco pointed out that meaningful change begins with action, especially when people work together.

This message was echoed by Mercedes Lopez Vargas (MLV) in her welcome remarks. The president and executive director of Lopez Group Foundation Inc. reflected on how individual choices, when multiplied across a community, can become a powerful force for change.

“A person refusing singleuse plastic may seem insignificant. One household conserving energy and water may seem like a drop in the bucket. But multiplied across thousands of us Kapamilyas, those choices become practice, habit and then are woven into our lifestyle and our culture, and the way we see things,” said MLV.

“This becomes momentum. This becomes change. That is the power of collective action,” she noted.

Building on this idea, keynote speaker Anna Reyes, cofounder and executive director of Sustina, challenged participants to see sustainability not as an additional responsibility, but as something deeply connected to everyday work and life.

“Sustainability is not adjacent to work, it is our survival,” Reyes stated. “The moment it becomes adjacent, it loses its purpose.”

She stressed that sustainability should not exist only as a separate initiative or a cause organizations support on the side. Instead, it should shape how decisions are made, how systems are designed and how people move forward.

Simple steps

So how can each one of us take action for the climate? The first step is understanding the challenges we face and knowing the actions available to us. The morning sessions of the kickoff focused on equipping participants with knowledge that can help turn concern into real action.

During “Weather and Climate 101: How to Read Weather Forecasts,” OML Center climate and impacts specialist Jerome Tolentino emphasized that preparedness is one of the most practical forms of climate action. By understanding weather forecasts and monitoring updates from trusted weather agencies, individuals and communities can make better decisions and reduce risks during extreme weather events.

“Roughly 19 to 20 tropical cyclones enter the Philippine area of responsibility each year. DOST-PAGASA regularly releases typhoon track forecasts, and weather agencies around the world also issue their own forecast tracks. It is good practice to compare forecasts from different weather agencies, as a typhoon’s track can change and is often difficult to predict. If we see that the forecast tracks are generally similar, then there is a good chance that the typhoon will follow that projected path,” explained Tolentino.

Participants learned how simple actions can create measurable environmental benefits during the composting and urban gardening workshop led by Tanya Flores, solar business development lead at Pi Energy.

Sharing her experience in organizing a community composting initiative, Flores demonstrated how even a small group of participants can make a significant difference in reducing waste.

“Last year, I organized a community compost program with my condo administration where I shared what composting is, followed by a hands-on experience for those who voluntarily joined. For a building that has around 500 units, there were roughly 20 to 30 households only that participated in this program. But even if there are only 20 to 30 households, we’ve collected 345 kilos of compost that can actually nourish 25 to 35 garden beds. This is equivalent to 34 trash vans that would have ended up in landfill,” Flores revealed.

Meanwhile, Patrick Correa, environmental and QESH compliance assurance manager of First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH), discussed how policy and behavior change can work together to reduce waste through the company’s single-use plastics policy.

“From June 2024 to May 2025, our office generated 0.1 metric tons of plastic waste per month. In the last five months of 2025, we’ve experienced a reduction of single-use plastics generation by around 38%. This is equivalent to around 13,000 pieces of empty 500 ml PET bottles avoided going into landfill,” noted Correa.

These sessions underscored that climate action does not always begin with large-scale projects. More often, it starts with knowing the issues around us and making informed choices in our daily lives.

But learning is only the beginning. The next step is putting knowledge into practice. To help employees take immediate action, the kickoff introduced initiatives that make environmental stewardship more accessible.

One of these was the launch of the “Drop It for Good” campaign, an e-waste collection drive that encourages employees to properly dispose of discarded information technology materials and other electronic waste. The initiative is being implemented through a partnership between First Gen Corporation and HMR Envirocycle Philippines Inc., extending the campaign across the Lopez Group.

Highlighting the importance of responsible e-waste management, Engr. Wilssie Sanchez, commercial and sustainability engineer of HMR Envirocycle Philippines Inc., shared that “[w]hen we manage our electronic waste responsibly and sustainably, we are advancing toward a circular Philippines with lower carbon emissions and less pollution. That’s how, as individuals, our small actions can contribute to the circular economy.”

Employees may now drop off old and discarded electronic devices in collection bins located on the ninth, 12th, 14th and 16th floors of RBC Tower 3.

Participants were likewise introduced to an app that aims to make environmental participation more accessible while encouraging more people to take part in ecosystem restoration and the protection of forest landscapes.

Forester Rich Paul Cosio, watershed management officer of First Gen-Energy Development Corporation (EDC), explained how the app helps connect organizations with tree-growing opportunities across First Gen-EDC sites.

“With the use of GIS maps, we created the CommuniTree mobile app. Through the app, companies can request native tree seedlings that can be planted across different EDC sites. These seedlings come from BINHI nurseries strategically located in EDC’s various operating sites. Through these state-of-the-art nurseries, we can propagate a wide range of native tree species,” Cosio said.

Together, these initiatives demonstrate that climate action should not stop at learning. The opportunities to act are now in place, and every Kapamilya has a role to play in becoming part of the solution.

Partners for change

Throughout the day, Kapamilyas explored interactive exhibits featuring environmental and sustainability initiatives from organizations within and beyond the Lopez Group. Featured exhibitors included ABSCBN Foundation Inc., Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation, Climate Fresk Philippines, First Gen-EDC’s BINHI, First Gen, Knowledge Channel, Lopez Museum and Library, OML Center and Sikat Solar Challenge Foundation Inc.

Beyond presentations and workshops, the kickoff highlighted the power of storytelling in encouraging environmental action.

Through the Greenflix: Envi Film Marathon facilitated by OML Center, First Gen-EDC and Knowledge Channel, participants watched selected Mga Kwento ng Klima (MKK) short films alongside a “WOW” Kidapawan episode featuring the Visayan hornbill. These materials showcased stories of climate action, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem protection from communities across the country.

Kapamilyas who wish to explore more of these stories can access the MKK short films through JuanFlix, while the “WOW” series is available on iWantTFC and the Knowledge Channel YouTube channel.

The way forward

As the Philippines continues to face the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, the need for collective action becomes even more urgent. Yet the festival also showed reason for optimism: solutions already exist, and many Kapamilyas are already putting them into practice.

And if thousands of Kapamilyas move in the same direction, small actions become momentum, momentum becomes change and collective action becomes a force for a more sustainable, resilient and regenerative future.

Cedie Lopez Vargas, president and executive director of LGFI, delivers her opening message emphasizing the importance of small everyday actions in creating meaningful impact on climate change

Dr. Rodel Lasco, Lopez Group Envi Cluster lead and OML Center executive director, shares that key information on climate change in the Philippines can be accessed through the 2024 Philippine Climate Change Assessment

OML Center’s Jerome Tolentino notes that aligned forecast tracks across agencies increase confidence in the projected path of tropical cyclones

Keynote speaker Anna Reyes, cofounder and executive director of Sustina, underscores that climate action is the only way forward to address today’s environmental and societal challenges

Tanya Flores of Pi Energy highlights the importance of composting and urban gardening

Patrick Correa shares updates on FPH’s single-use plastics policy

Engr. Wilssie Sanchez of HMR Envirocycle Philippines Inc. joins First Gen for the launch of the e-waste collection drive under the ‘Drop It for Good’ campaign