Screen grab shows Sarawak Energy’s Sustainability and Sarawak Energy virtual campaign launch.
KUCHING: The Sustainability and Sarawak Energy campaign was launched on Monday, marking the start of a six-month staff campaign to build a common understanding of sustainability.
Led by group chief executive officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili and senior vice-president for corporate services Siti Aisah Adenan, the virtual event was attended by almost 700 employees through a virtual collaborative platform.
In his speech, Sharbini said Sarawak Energy hoped to raise awareness of sustainability and educate the 5,200-strong workforce on how to internalise the sustainability mindset and culture across the organisation.
“As the world progresses towards building a more sustainable energy future, we aim for Sarawak Energy to be a leader at national and regional level through our role as a renewable hydropower developer and sustainability champion. We are aligned with the 17 United Nations Sustainability Development Goals 2030 or SDGs, and prioritise six of them in our business and operations,” he said.
The launch also saw Sarawak Energy become the first corporation in Malaysia to commit to the ‘Business Action for 1.5°Celsius’ under the United Nations Global Compact.
The announcement of the pledge was witnessed by United Nations Global Compact senior manager of global operations Neha Das, who heads its Asia Pacific operations, and Global Compact Network Malaysia executive director Faroze Nadar.
“By signing the pledge, Sarawak Energy has committed to set a science-based emission reduction target across relevant scopes, in line with the Paris Agreement to pursue efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2030. The pledge sends an important signal to other businesses in Malaysia to work towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. As of June 18, 2020, 249 companies around the world had signed the Business Ambition for 1.5 degrees Celsius commitment,” Sarawak Energy said in a press release.
Sarawak Energy’s focus on renewable hydropower as the primary component of its generation mix saw the carbon dioxide emission intensity of Sarawak’s main grid decrease by 68 per cent in 2019 compared to 2011.
In her opening remarks, Siti Aisah said Sarawak Energy is focused on efforts to integrate a robust sustainability agenda into its business and operations.
“This campaign aims to create a platform of awareness and discussion of our sustainability efforts within Sarawak Energy and also to build our position as a leading proponent of sustainability in Sarawak,” she said.
In conjunction with the pledge and campaign, Sarawak Energy also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) virtually with Global Compact Network Malaysia to focus on promoting and achieving the UNSDGs.
Under the MoU signed by Siti Aisah and Faroze, both Sarawak Energy and Global Compact Network Malaysia will collaborate under the latter’s ‘#mySDGAction2030’ campaign, which is a local call for a more sustainable and resilient Malaysia by accelerating sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges, which include climate change, inequality, and closing the financial gap.
The event included a panel discussion with Sharbini, Faroze, PricewaterhouseCoopers South East Asian consulting services consulting leader (Malaysia) and sustainability and climate change leader Andrew WK Chan, and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Asean hub regional head Michele Lemmens.
Sarawak Energy sustainability senior manager Mohd Irwan Aman moderated the session.