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KUCHING, Aug 1: Businesses must adopt environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards in order to fulfil their corporate and social responsibilities as it would help businesses attract more investment.
According to a press release, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (Meesty) Dr Hazland Abang Hipni stated this during the Senari Synergy Group ESG Day 2023, which was recently held at IOT Management Sdn Bhd at Jalan Bako here.
Dr Hazland emphasised in his speech that investing in ESG is gaining traction among investors, and that in order to be successful, a company must increase efforts to protect the environment, increase social and community activities, and ensure transparent and integrity-based governance.
“In terms of the environment, a company’s ability to manage environmental sustainability, including the use of renewable energy sources, manufacturing waste control (schedule waste management), water resource management, and so on, will be evaluated.
“From a social perspective, relationship management with customers, suppliers, employees, and the community where the company operates needs to be emphasised.
“In the context of governance, the sustainability of a company depends on the strength of leadership, the integrity of its employees, compliance with regulations and laws, as well as the existence of effective and transparent processes and systems,” he said.
He pointed out that ESG practices affect a company’s reputation and have a significant impact on the country.
“It has been proven that companies that implement ESG practices successfully achieve stronger and more stable financial performance, higher employee productivity, reduced regulatory and legal interventions, cost reduction and sustainable growth,” he added.
Furthermore, Dr Hazland stated that, at the moment, an increasing number of external investors are focusing on ESG as a benchmark or criteria for making investment decisions.
“Therefore, it is important for us to shift to ESG-based operations. If we ignore ESG practices, as a company, we will be at risk of being disconnected from the chain or disposed of by major investors,” he noted.
“In the context of ESG, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Senari Synergy Group under the leadership of Hj Jefri (Jefri Ahmad Tambi) as well as all the employees of Senari Synergy for taking care and implementing various initiatives towards realising ESG objectives.
“Activities such as low energy use, use of biogas instead of diesel, collaboration with high-paying institutes in the field of renewable energy, e-waste management, synergy gems, community activities such as qurban, contribution to village activities, creating an ESG framework, and the determination to apply the value of integrity by holding the anti-bribery system (ABMS) for the Synergy group of companies deserve praise.
“I believe that all this is a step in the right direction. I hope that other agencies also take the initiative as done by Senari Synergy.”
Dr Hazland additionally said that his ministry will continue to assist companies like Senari Synergy in developing action plans and directions for sustaining ESG, including making Sarawak Net Zero Carbon by 2050.
“I recognize that this ESG journey is not an easy one; it requires collaboration, dedication, and consistency from all involved and stakeholders.
“I hope that we can all join hands, collaborate and provide continuous support to make ESG-based initiatives successful for more sustainable development,” he added. — DayakDaily
