Ateneans gather to share their experiences and hopes for fighting climate change

Last 21 May 2025, the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability (AIS) hosted another installment of its Blue Roots series entitled “Blue Roots: Ateneans for Climate”. Blue Roots is a banner project of the AIS, which seeks to build and cultivate a network of Atenean alumni working on sustainability-related fields. Additionally, conceived in 2024, the series aims to inspire young Ateneans to enter a career in sustainability.

For this installment, AIS aimed to gather Ateneo sustainability professionals to share and exchange experiences, perspectives, and hopes on the climate change space in the Philippines. The event featured three alumni panelists bringing different viewpoints– Dr Charlotte Kendra Gotangco Gonzales, a Research Fellow at the Fenner School of Environment and Society of the Australian National University; Atty Jayvy Gamboa, a lawyer working for the protection of socio-economic rights of Filipino workers amid socioecological transitions at Klima; and Mr Jed Llanes, Chief Product Officer and Head of ESG and Sustainability at Komunidad Global, a leading climate data and analytics Software as a Service (SaaS) provider serving governments and enterprises across Asia and Europe. The event was moderated by Ms Sophia Dayrit, a faculty member of the Department of Environmental Science.

Based on the session, it can particularly be noted that even though the climate change space is a technical field, anyone can be a part of it. Just like the panelists, people may come from different backgrounds–BS Physics Minor in Philosophy; Bachelor of Arts in Economics (Honors Program); Bachelor of Arts, Major in Development Studies, Minor in Public Management–and still find themselves in one field just with different roles and focus areas.

Moreover, the panelists shared that in spite of all the developments, there are many opportunities within the space for aspiring climate change professionals simply because there is still a lot to be done to advance the field and ultimately meet the climate goals. As it is usually expressed nowadays, “Malayo pa, pero malayo na.” Participants were left with the idea that there is much opportunity for collaboration in the field.

During the open forum, the participants raised several questions all pointing at how to get people onboard, particularly the decision makers, with the sustainability agenda to which the panelists essentially answered that it entails creativity and understanding. If sustainability champions really want to bring everyone in to move towards a positive change, it is fundamental for them to know and use the language that the decision makers are using. It is crucial to spark the decision makers’ and investors’ interest and prove to them that sustainability makes business sense. This is generally the bottleneck that sustainability professionals are being called to work heavily on.

The event ended with the highly anticipated opportunity for networking where participants got to mingle with new and old friends as they shared their own stories and left the hall inspired and hopeful for the future.

Watch out for future Blue Roots sessions by following the AIS Facebook account.