Bursa Malaysia partners Petronas to drive ESG practices

KUALA LUMPUR (April 12): Bursa Malaysia Bhd has signed a memorandum of collaboration with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) to help drive environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) adoption and practices through the exchange’s Centralised Sustainability Intelligence Platform (CSIP).

Working in collaboration with the London Stock Exchange Group, Bursa Malaysia said it was developing and testing the platform to allow corporates and their listed or non-listed suppliers, both domestically and internationally, to calculate their carbon emissions impact and disclose standardised, common ESG data.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, Bursa Malaysia and Petronas said the platform's purpose was to ease companies in their sustainability disclosures and encourage effective management of their carbon emissions, including those from their supply chains, while facilitating decarbonisation through banks’ green financing products and services.

“With the formalisation, Petronas would be participating in the Early Adopter Programme of the Platform to advocate standardised ESG reporting and disclosures while exploring the creation of further value throughout its supply chain.

“Participation in the platform is envisaged to further reinforce adoption among Malaysian companies through improved ESG data transparency and interoperability,” the statement said.

Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said the CSIP deployed for the collaboration is intended to facilitate and ease Petronas’ decarbonisation efforts across its supply chain.

“We encourage other industry captains, particularly those with significant stakes in the global supply chain, to also tap into this avenue and take the helm for change within their respective verticals,” he said.

Meanwhile, Petronas president and group chief executive officer Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz said critically, partnerships with forward-looking entities like Bursa Malaysia would offer a valuable avenue for the entire oil and gas services and equipment sector to further embrace and strengthen ESG compliance for operational improvements.

“This is increasingly unavoidable to preserve a licence to operate in a rapidly transforming energy landscape,” he added.