A virtual event, the two-day conference saw lively discussions and engaging participation from the 300-odd participants, made up of individuals in the corporate, academia and civil society sectors.
This year, the common theme was ‘rebuilding’.
According to widely-acclaimed “Net Positive” author, Andrew Winston, while the world is still healing from the pandemic, accelerating climate change and growing inequality threaten everyone’s wellbeing.
During his talk, which took place on day one, Winston argued that businesses have the tools and opportunity to help solve these problems, and could thrive by doing so.
Other prominent speakers on day one included local public health expert Dr Jemilah Mahmood and Jeremy Lent, author of the award-winning “The Patterning Instinct”.
Jemilah, who is also executive director and professor at Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University, said that a confluence of multiple crises was affecting the collective health of the planet.
From infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics, to climate change and rising food insecurity, the former special advisor to the Malaysian prime minister on public health said that the world needed to act on this urgently.
On day two of SB’22KL, a panel discussion titled “Purpose of Business” saw panellists discussing at length on how corporations fit into the economic ecosystem and their roles as active stewards for the planet.
“As a large organisation, we want to be careful that we’re not doing sustainability only because it’s popular; we’ve got to ensure that we have the science and process behind it,” said Azmir Merican, Sime Darby Property group managing director.
Another talk that took place was “Building Effective Sustainability Communications” by Firdaus Jonid, managing director of Invictus Blue, who said that Malaysian brands must be more open to collaborating with peers and competitors.
One interesting highlight of the day included the first ever socio-cultural trend tracker research in Asia, which provided consumer insights into how to connect with Malaysians about the concept of sustainability.
The research showed that many didn’t take action to support sustainability simply because they did not know where to start.
“There’s an opportunity for brands who want to help Malaysian consumers pay more attention to fostering resilient societies,” said Sharmini Nagulan, managing director of Acacia Blue, while presenting the findings.
Although this was the second consecutive year the conference was held virtually, Sharmini said this did not deter participants from actively engaging in conversations, whether with panellists or fellow participants.
This, she added, was a testament to participants’ growing awareness of sustainability and their desire to create a sustainable future.
An annual event since 2015, Sustainable Brands Kuala Lumpur is held under the auspices of Sustainable Brands Worldwide Conference, the largest global community of purpose-driven innovators working to help shift the world to a more sustainable economy.
Attendees were able to claim their participation fees for SB’22KL against companies’ Human Resources Development Corporation (HRDC) contributions.
More information about the Conference can be found on their website.