KUCHING, Nov 26: Sarawak Energy Berhad’s (Sarawak Energy) steadfast commitment and efforts to transform its sustainability strategies into actionable initiatives earned the State-owned energy development company and utility a series of accolades at the United Nations Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei (UNGCMYB) Forward Faster Sustainability Awards 2023 in Kuala Lumpur last night (Nov 25).
Sarawak Energy’s Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Datuk Sharbini Suhaili, received the top award — UNGCMYB Forward Faster CEO — from the event’s guest-of-honour Malaysia Deputy Minister for Economy, Dato Hanifah Hajar Taib.
Also in attendance was Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Distinguished Fellow, UN Sustainable Solutions Network at Sunway University & Adviser to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
Sharbini was nominated for the award alongside corporate leaders from Malayan Banking Berhad, Perlabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad and Pos Malaysia Berhad.
Last year, Sharbini received the principal award, the Sustainability Influencer Award, for his stewardship and influence in leading Sarawak Energy on its sustainability journey.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Energy’s General Manager (GM) for Sustainability, Mohd Irwan Aman, received the Special Climate Fellow recognition.
Sarawak Energy was also awarded under the Biodiversity category and received recognition for Partnership for the Goals and Sustainability Awareness & Employee Engagement. The award had over 200 nominations in total.
According to a media release by Sarawak Energy, the recognitions are a testament to the effort and commitment of Sarawak Energy in embedding sustainable principles and practices in its processes, a fundamental imperative required to align with global frameworks that support sustainable development.
Sarawak Energy was the first corporation in Malaysia to commit to the 1.5°C pledge in 2020 and recently received official target validation by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).
Commenting on the awards, Sharbini said Sarawak Energy is recognised as an important global voice for sustainable development towards Net Zero. It had developed its sustainability strategy and roadmap to identify key performance areas and address gaps.
“Through the 1.5°C pledge, we are committed to setting a science-based emission reduction target across relevant scopes.
“We have also embarked on voluntary climate-related financial disclosures guided by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) for better governance and management of climate-related risks. This will increase the effectiveness in measuring, managing and reporting climate-related risks pertaining to Sarawak Energy and its supply chain.
“We took on this corporate transformation to bring our sustainability strategies into actionable goals, and we are actively building a community of sustainability practitioners in Sarawak Energy. We also recognise that collaborations and cross-organisational learnings with like-minded organisations are essential to achieving these goals,” he said.
Also present were Datin Norasmah Kassim with Sarawak Energy’s Senior Vice President for Corporate Services, Siti Aisah Adenan; Yusri Safri, Senior Vice President for Contracts & Procurement; Dr Ng Sing Muk, GM for Research and Development; Dr Asleena Helmi, GM for Corporate Communication; Madinah Abang, GM for Contracts & Procurement; Jiwari Abdullah, GM for Social Impact Management (CSR) and Maria Lee, Chief Integrity & Compliance Officer.
Earlier the same day, Sarawak Energy was represented at the GO ESG 2023 – the Sustainable Finance Symposium themed ‘Collective Action for Inclusive Sustainable Finance’.
Mohd Irwan was a panellist in the ‘Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration- Bridging Finance, SDGs and Growth session, speaking alongside Wong Chen, MP for Subang and Chairman of the Special Select Committee on International Relations and International Trade; Asfaazam Kasbani, Director of National SDG Centre, Ministry of Economy Malaysia and Mohamed Nazri Omar, Managing Director Group Corporate & Investment Banking, Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad.
The discussion centred on the role of multi-stakeholders in financing sustainable forms of development and the impact of government policies in supporting public-private partnerships to achieve the SDGs sooner. Anita Ahmad, CEO of Yayasan MySDG, moderated the session.
The symposium, organised by UNGCMYB at the Parliament of Malaysia, was opened by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tan Sri Dato’ (Dr) Johari Abdul.
It also featured a fireside chat with Nurul Izzah Anwar, Co-chairperson of the Secretariat, Advisory Committee to the Finance Minister. — DayakDaily
