THE latest SDG Stocktake Report (2024) revealed that over 97% of business leaders in the Asia and Oceania regions understand how their business impacts the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Leveraging this insight, the United Nations Global Compact Forward Faster Now hosted its first regional flagship event in Asia and Oceania through the Forward Faster Initiative from Aug 5-6.

Forward Faster Now urged companies to take ambitious and credible action towards specific, measurable sustainability targets.

This initiative aims to accelerate progress across all 17 SDGs, focusing on areas where companies can collectively make the biggest, fastest impact by 2030.

The event also served as a platform for discussing strategies and scalable solutions tailored to the region’s unique context.

With the theme “Accelerating Sustainable Business in Asia & Oceania”, the event drew over 300 high-level executives, sustainability practitioners and business leaders from across Asia and Oceania to the Asia School of Business for two days, fostering a dynamic environment for thought-provoking discussion and collaboration.

Organised by the UN Global Compact in collaboration with 15 Global Compact Country Networks and hosted by the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei (UNGCMYB), the event featured nearly 70 high-profile speakers.

Going forwards together

The inauguration on Aug 5 was led by Energy Transition and Water Transformation minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir and UN Global Compact secretary-general and chief executive officer (CEO) Sanda Ojiambo.

“We must challenge Malaysian companies to move ‘Forward Faster Now’, aligning with the government’s agenda to accelerate sustainable development.

“This event serves as a crucial platform for businesses to set ambitious targets in key areas like gender equality, climate action, sustainable finance, living wage, and water resilience, all vital for our country’s future,” he said.

“By participating, companies not only contribute to achieving the global goals, but this will also strengthen Malaysia’s position in leading sustainable business practices”.

Akmal Nasrullah alongside UNGCMYB executive director Faroze Nadar and Astro Malaysia Holding Berhad (Astro) group CEO Euan Smith launched Forward Faster Louder Programme, signifying a collaborative effort towards amplifying sustainability impact stories.

The “Forward Faster Louder” programme is about amplifying impactful and credible ESG narratives for Malaysia.

Through Astro’s Voice For Good platform they will showcase real, true and inspiring sustainability conversations, including stories from all walks of life that will inspire and drive positive action.

The intent is to exhibit how Malaysia is paving the way, told by Malaysian individuals, corporates and small businesses.

The event then proceeded with its first discussion, featuring a high-level CEO panel. Business leaders shared their experiences and insights on driving sustainable development, managing crises and responding to sustainability challenges.

The panellists included EDOTCO Group CEO Mohamed Adlan Tajudin; Astro group CEO Euan Smith; TotalEnergies Corbion Thailand director Olivier de Linares; Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd managing director and CEO Farzanah Chowdury; and Kokusai Kogyo chairperson and CEO Sandra Wu, who is also a board member of Global Compact Network Japan.

The first day concluded with a closing plenary delivered by Kanako Fukuda from Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd; Charles Brewer from Pos Malaysia Berhad; Nadar; and Frank Wang from Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp.

They summarised the outcomes and outlined the next steps, while celebrating the Forward Faster signatories from the region.

Select companies were also invited to share their current journeys and future plans.Helping smaller players

One panel session on Aug 6 titled, “Forward Faster SMEs: Small Businesses, Big Impact” explored the crucial role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in achieving sustainable economic growth and development in the region.

According to UN Global Compact Network Singapore executive director Esther Chang, “SMEs are the backbone of local economies, accounting for 98% of businesses and 50% of formal employment in Asia-Pacific and worldwide.

“With large corporations often dominating the sustainability discussion, it is important to remember, though, that two-thirds of the environmental, social and governance footprint lies with the SMEs and their supply chains.”

The panel consisted of Hatch Works CEO Mevan Peiris, TORAJAMELO CEO Aparna Saxena, DTC World Corporation (DTC) director Cheng Yee Chin and Forest Interactive CEO and founder Johary Mustapha.

Cheng shared her experiences saying, “When we embarked on our sustainability journey in 2016, the very first challenge that we faced was the lack of knowledge and experience in that area.

“During 2016, there weren’t a lot of talks about sustainability in Singapore. So, we had to invest significant time and resources to understand sustainability concepts and also implement relevant practices.”

For DTC, a marketing services company that specialises in premiums and point-of-sales merchandise solutions, Cheng said that their first audit was equal value certifications.

This covered various areas like labour and human rights, business ethics, sustainable procurement and environment.

The panel noted that the steep learning curve can be due to another major challenge; changing employees’ mindset and integrating sustainability into a company’s culture.

“When we first talked to our employees about sustainability, many saw that sustainability efforts are just additional work without any immediate benefits,” Cheng added.

“To address this, we invested in a lot of training and workshops to educate our employees about the importance of sustainability and how it will align with our business goal.

“We went ahead to set up a sustainability working group involving all the heads of departments to help us to manage and also drive our sustainability efforts,” she explained.

Over the two days, other key topics included an overview of how global companies integrate SDGs into their strategies and operations, discussions on promoting gender equality through increased women’s representation in senior management and showcasing innovative solutions by young executives from the SDG Innovation Accelerator Programme.

Additionally, the event addressed the transformation of food systems and the private sector’s role in ensuring future food security.

Besides providing valuable insights on the practical application of sustainability principles, the event also featured the launch of impact stories.

These stories showcased the region’s commitment to driving progress and offered an in-depth look at how businesses are employing innovative and effective strategies to advance sustainable development.

As of now, over 300 companies in the region have committed to Forward Faster and the UNGCMYB urges companies in Asia and Oceania to commit to the Forward Faster initiative.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/08/30/forward-faster-now-a-call-to-action-for-companies-driving-the-2030-agenda