The Philippines is a dichotomy in its performance for the UN SDG goals. In 2018, they rank as the world’s most progressive renewable energy nation for the third year running.

In terms of gender equality, the Philippines was ranked eighth among the 10 best performers in the WEF’s Global Gender Gap report, alongside global sustainability leaders such as Iceland, Norway and Sweden. 

On the flip side, the Philippines is ranked as the world’s third biggest polluter after China and Indonesia, with 2.7m metric tonnes of plastic waste generated each year. And even though they lead the world in progressive renewable energy, almost 76% of their power generation was still supplied by fossil fuel plants.

With a mixed bag of results, where does this country of 106m people truly stand in terms of sustainability performance? And how can impact investments and tech startups help?

To answer these questions, I speak to Ping Manongdo, Country Manager - Philippines at Eco-Business, Asia’s leading media organisation on sustainable development, for her expert insights on the good and bad of sustainability in the Philippines.