This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 12, 2022 - December 18, 2022

Sunway Bhd clinched the long-term achiever award and the silver award in the industrial products and services sector at The Edge Malaysia ESG Awards 2022. Ong Pang Yen, executive director of the chairman’s office at Sunway, attributes the success to the company’s commitment to the people and planet.

“Our founder and chairman Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah has often said we must do business with a conscience. It must not be profit alone at all cost. We can do well by doing good. If we care about our people and our planet, we will remain relevant, always. That is the value system and culture at Sunway. It has been in the DNA of the company right from the start,” says Ong.

The company’s commitment to sustainability is drawn from the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). From Sunway’s perspective, environmental, social and governance (ESG) is viewed as a data-driven sustainability mechanism to help the company achieve its UN SDGs.

“The sustainable development agenda is the overarching goal. This includes climate action, human rights, equality and dignity for all,” says Ong.

“ESG points us to what matters and what is important to be monitored and measured, because what gets measured gets managed, and then that calls for public disclosure. Disclosures can be a scary thing because like a mirror, you may not like what you see and it may come as a shock. But that is what makes people sit up and act.”

Sunway takes various measures to comply with ESG standards. For example, water treatment facilities and solar panels are installed on rooftops across its township. The solar panels reduce 3,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Additionally, more than 30,000 trees are planted in the township’s vicinity to absorb 550 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The company is committed to investing in large-scale solar farms and aspires to harness 40% of energy from the sun to power its operations by 2035.

Sunway has reinforced its occupational health, safety and environment (OHSE) management system. The organisation is also looking at ways to improve its framework according to the ISO 4500 Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) Standard.

“On the social side, a guideline to treat employees well safeguards Sunway’s ability to continually attract the right talent. It will also eliminate human rights abuses and sub-standard work environments, while ensuring occupational safety and health issues are prioritised,” says Ong, adding that its family-friendly policies subsidise childcare to support working women.

Moving forward, Sunway hopes to create strategic partnerships and learn from experts in the field of ESG from esteemed organisations such as the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, to perform better.

Ong observes that private companies should not ignore ESG compliance and practices any longer. But for the ESG agenda to be sustainable, companies should anchor it on their values and ethics.

“It has to be internalised. We must believe it is the right thing to do. It should not be overly dependent on external pressure, whether investors, regulatory bodies or others,” he adds.

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