Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Can the Philippines become a testbed for Southeast Asia’s clean-tech future?
Kicking off Season 19 of Cleaning Up, guest host Marie Cheong meets Jaime Z. Urquijo, Urban Estates Group Head at Ayala Land, one of the Philippines is largest real estate and development companies.
Ayala Land is a subsidiary of the Ayala Corporation, which has been part of the Philippines' economic story for almost 200 years, and ACEN, its energy platform, has gone from a standing start in 2011 to more than 7GW of renewable capacity across Asia-Pacific.
Marie and Jaime explore how the Philippines can build cleaner energy, transport and cities from the start while its economy and population continue to grow. They discuss replacing coal with renewables, retiring coal plants early, building resilient cities and making growth less carbon-intensive. From batteries and rooftop solar to green steel and electric buses, they ask what it will take for the Philippines to leapfrog to a cleaner, more resilient economy.
Topics covered in this conversation:
• The Philippines' clean-energy challenge
• Can growth be decoupled from emissions?
• Making corporate sustainability profitable
• ACEN's renewable-energy transformation
• Southeast Asia's renewable-energy gold rush
• Can coal plants retire early?
• Building resilient cities for climate
• Electric buses and better transport
• Green steel and cleaner construction
Leadership Circle
Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information about the Leadership Circle, visit cleaningup.live
Links
• Jaime Urquijo’s bio: linkedin.com/in/jaime-urquijo-96526799
• Ayala Corporation: ayala.com
• Ayala Land: ayalaland.com
• ACEN: acenrenewables.com/about-us
• Monsoon Wind Project: monsoonwindasia.com
• Marie's past appearance on Cleaning Up: youtu.be/RE2ZeGd8aaI
Acronyms
• WBCSD: World Business Council for Sustainable Development
• BPO: Business Process Outsourcing
• SBTI: Science Based Targets Initiative.
• MDC: Makati Development Corporation.
• EDC: The Energy Development Corporation
• EPIRA: Electric Power Industry Reform Act
• FIT: Feed-In Tariff
• ETM: Energy Transition Mechanism
• BRT: Bus Rapid Transit System
• ICE: Internal Combustion Engine
• LGU: Local Government Unit
Chapters
00:00: Intro
04:34: The Philippines
07:49: Ayala's history
10:42: Sustainability strategy
16:16: Net zero
27:32: Energy liberalisation
34:09: Regional challenges
36:27: Coal retirement
42:07: Resilient cities
47:45: Green steel
52:14: Green construction
54:55: Innovation tailwinds
58:27: Energy decentralisation
59:07: Future growth
01:01:43: Outro
Can the Philippines become a testbed for Southeast Asia’s clean-tech future?
Kicking off Season 19 of Cleaning Up, guest host Marie Cheong meets Jaime Z. Urquijo, Urban Estates Group Head at Ayala Land, one of the Philippines is largest real estate and development companies.
Ayala Land is a subsidiary of the Ayala Corporation, which has been part of the Philippines' economic story for almost 200 years, and ACEN, its energy platform, has gone from a standing start in 2011 to more than 7GW of renewable capacity across Asia-Pacific.
Marie and Jaime explore how the Philippines can build cleaner energy, transport and cities from the start while its economy and population continue to grow. They discuss replacing coal with renewables, retiring coal plants early, building resilient cities and making growth less carbon-intensive. From batteries and rooftop solar to green steel and electric buses, they ask what it will take for the Philippines to leapfrog to a cleaner, more resilient economy.
Topics covered in this conversation:
• The Philippines' clean-energy challenge
• Can growth be decoupled from emissions?
• Making corporate sustainability profitable
• ACEN's renewable-energy transformation
• Southeast Asia's renewable-energy gold rush
• Can coal plants retire early?
• Building resilient cities for climate
• Electric buses and better transport
• Green steel and cleaner construction
Leadership Circle
Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information about the Leadership Circle, visit cleaningup.live
Links
• Jaime Urquijo’s bio: linkedin.com/in/jaime-urquijo-96526799
• Ayala Corporation: ayala.com
• Ayala Land: ayalaland.com
• ACEN: acenrenewables.com/about-us
• Monsoon Wind Project: monsoonwindasia.com
• Marie's past appearance on Cleaning Up: youtu.be/RE2ZeGd8aaI
Acronyms
• WBCSD: World Business Council for Sustainable Development
• BPO: Business Process Outsourcing
• SBTI: Science Based Targets Initiative.
• MDC: Makati Development Corporation.
• EDC: The Energy Development Corporation
• EPIRA: Electric Power Industry Reform Act
• FIT: Feed-In Tariff
• ETM: Energy Transition Mechanism
• BRT: Bus Rapid Transit System
• ICE: Internal Combustion Engine
• LGU: Local Government Unit
Chapters
00:00: Intro
04:34: The Philippines
07:49: Ayala's history
10:42: Sustainability strategy
16:16: Net zero
27:32: Energy liberalisation
34:09: Regional challenges
36:27: Coal retirement
42:07: Resilient cities
47:45: Green steel
52:14: Green construction
54:55: Innovation tailwinds
58:27: Energy decentralisation
59:07: Future growth
01:01:43: Outro
