Climate investors gather in Manila to chart a more sustainable future

On Nov. 24, a small group of climate investors gathered in Manila for the first time.

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Co-hosted by venture capital firm Gobi Partners and nonprofit Sustina, the launch of the Manila chapter of Investors for Climate (I4C) opened the door to a global community of over 400 climate investors, with a collective track record of over $50 billion invested to date.Sometime in between dinner and drinks, Black Eyed Peas member Apl. de.ap walked in with the team that runs his foundation. It was a surprise entrance, but we already had a varied group of fund managers, policymakers, and startup founders. Why not have a well-known artist—or, as he preferred to introduce himself, a coconut ambassador—at the table?

The event felt timely, falling on the heels of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where innovative financial mechanisms like Brazil’s Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF) provided a bright spot amid an otherwise grim outcome. Against a background of literal fires and the deafening silence where the phrase “fossil fuels” used to be, COP30 attracted over 1,600 fossil fuel lobbyists. The silver lining—if we really try to look for it—is that perhaps a tide is turning and even they cannot avoid coming to the table.

The UN’s position on COP has been that it is seen as “a litmus test” for turning decades of climate pledges into action. Back in Manila, I4C Ambassador and Gobi Partners’ head of ESG Carlo Chen-Delantar was making the case to this group of stakeholders that the Philippines is a litmus test of its own.