Energy-driven businesses like Jentayu Sustainables Berhad have made it their mission to drive the sustainability agenda and gain recognition as a reputable regional environmental, social and governance (ESG) organisation.
Its executive chairman Beroz Nikmal Mirdin said the company aimed to be visible on the FTSE4Good Index and promote sustainability through its expertise in providing clean energy to Malaysia.
He said that Jentayu Sustainables had adopted and implemented its ESG efforts internally and externally.
“For our internal mission, we have introduced a campaign, The Green Way Forward, with the aim of promoting a sustainable culture and reducing our carbon footprint. Several initiatives have been outlined in this campaign and some of them already kicked off in April 2022,” he said.
Beroz added that externally, Jentayu Sustainables had incorporated into their business mission the designing, developing and incepting of sustainable assets in Malaysia with an installed capacity of 350MW by 2027.
“By having this mission, we are committed to providing clean energy to Malaysian citizens and at the same time, supporting Malaysia’s agenda in achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2050.”
He said to this end, an ESG framework was created based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UNGC 10 Principles, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the related OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct.
“The framework consists of paperless offices, whereby we aim to have minimal paper-based processes but rather rely on digital documents, systems, and processes. This initiative began on April 1, 2022. As of September 2022, we manage to reduce paper usage by half which is equivalent to the saving of 13 trees. We’ve also encouraged remote working, with the aim of reducing carbon emission and power consumption.
“We aspire to implement a series of green purchasing initiatives including the purchase of paper that contains at least 30% post-consumer recycled content, Energy Star office equipment and products that contain bio-based content whenever possible,” Beroz said.
He also said that there were three main agendas that would play an important role in future.
“Firstly, we are targeting a reduction in energy consumption, where The Green Way Forward will be able to support this through a variety of initiatives, while calculating the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Then, we are also looking at biodiversity issues, materialised in business activities through forest management. Our renewable energy projects are guided by the environmental impact assessments which focus on habitat protection and restoration. Part of the ongoing activities is reforestation in Sabah, in collaboration with the Sabah Forest Department.”
Lastly, we will look at bettering the local communities through our corporate social responsibility initiatives. We aim to ensure villagers living in the surrounding areas of our projects are being managed in terms of welfare and education. Some of the potential activities include improving access roads to the villages, knowledge sharing and looking into electricity requirements,” Beroz said.
Beroz also said Jentayu Sustainables won a recognition from the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UMCGMYB) during the UNGCMYB Sustainability Performance Awards Ceremony that was held to recognise Malaysian businesses for championing sustainability efforts.
“We are proud to have been awarded the Sustainability Awareness and Employee Engagement Recognition. This is a strong testament of our dedication and aspiration to be a leader in advocating sustainable energy in the region,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Faroze Nadar, Executive Director at UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei said sustainable finance and investments are now at the forefront of responsible businesses, and by harnessing the value of finance and investment, expected sustainability actions now have solid cases at decision making levels.
“This is arguably the single most important factor in making ESG a strategy mainstay and mainstream for the private sector. Regulations are going even further by mandating sustainability components for banks and investments across Asean which is fast reshaping how capital markets, financiers, investors and users can become more responsible.”
“We hope Asean chief financial officers will help spearhead initiatives that will enable better supply demand dynamics in the growing sustainable debt market,” Faroze said.
The sustainability cause has been strongly backed by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah who said corporations and businesses must harness their resources, including human capital, technology and innovation, to make significant contributions.
“The transparent provision of credible and comprehensive sustainability data should become an essential aspect of ESG commitments. It should be undertaken voluntarily by companies, going beyond the mandatory sustainability reporting schemes that most corporations are already subject to,” he said.
His Royal Highness added that climate change was a crisis and socio-economic inequalities faced today must be addressed and subsequently resolved for the next generation to come.
“All of us have an urgent role to play in this process, including the corporate sector, through its ESG commitments and its more stakeholder-driven approach. We must ensure that this is our legacy, for our children and grandchildren’s sake.”