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The next frontier in the AI race: Scaling for impact

At the beginning of the year, some industry observers speculated that ESG topics might take a back seat to political drama and geopolitical conflicts that are still ongoing in certain parts of the world.

They were right in many ways. More recently, the re-election of Donald Trump as US ...

Cover Story: ESG at yet another crossroads

Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli’s words, according to which Malaysia is set to adopt nuclear power generation as one of its energy sources in the coming years, are extremely welcome.

According to Rafizi, nuclear power is a cleaner energy source compared to others, which could help the ...

Views: A case for nuclear energy

Year in review: Major ESG-related events in 2024

Global climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, earlier this month finished 33 hours late with mixed results. COP29, or the 29th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, went down to the wire to reach agreement on climate finance and other contentious issues.<...

Views: Mixed results at Global Climate Summit COP 29

In Southeast Asia, conversations in the Business and Human Rights-Environmental, Social and Governance (BHR-ESG) space focus on encouraging companies to voluntarily adopt sustainability measures and subsequently report on their sustainability initiatives. While some progress has been made, it rem...

Views: How the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive will impact Malaysian businesses

Every monsoon season, I’d feel the dread that grips Southeast Asia — the deadly floods currently displacing hundreds of thousands in a day, the thick blankets of haze we’ve grown up with and, of course, the unease over how our leaders will respond.

This year, I feel cautionary hope at t...

Views: Malaysia’s 2025 resolution: Adopt Asean’s first environmental rights declaration

The United Nations Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report 2024 focuses on the massive gap between the rhetorical and real impact of climate action commitments, and emphasises that crunch time is here, as wildfires, heatwaves, storms and droughts intensify globally.

Time for countries to aggressively ramp up climate change action

Malaysia’s transition to becoming a developed and high-income nation has imposed pressure on its biodiversity.

Thankfully, the country has been ramping up its efforts in conservation and the sustainable management of its biodiversity. For instance, it aims for biodiversity conservation ...

Nature: Protecting Malaysia’s biodiversity at all costs

Clean and safe water sources are crucial to human survival, but water security is increasingly being threatened by pollution, poor maintenance of assets, effects of the climate crisis and low awareness among the public.

Unscheduled water cuts have occurred multiple times in the country ...

Resources: Protect watersheds and open new ‘taps’

Malaysia’s plastic problem seems like a never-ending conundrum, despite laws and policies put in place to eliminate dependence on single-use plastics and to encourage the use of sustainable alternatives.

This might change going forward, however, as many big retail chains such as 99 Spee...

Waste: Malaysia’s plastic problem in the spotlight

<p>China’s BYD Co&nbsp;enjoyed a year-end surge to push total sales to 4.25 million passenger cars last year, narrowing its gap with Tesla Inc&nbsp;as the two vie for the crown of top-selling electric-vehicle (EV) maker of 2024.</p>


BYD chalks up new record as it narrows EV sales gap with Tesla

<p>Alibaba Group Holding Ltd&nbsp;agreed to sell its shares in Sun Art Retail Group Ltd&nbsp;to private equity firm DCP Capital, unloading another high-profile physical commerce asset to focus on its core online business.</p>


Alibaba to sell hypermart store chain Sun Art to buyout firm DCP for US$1.6b

<p>The government will implement the use of quick-response (QR) code specially for Malaysians on a trial basis beginning this month to ensure smooth immigration checks at 40 special lanes at Terminals 1 and 2 of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) .</p>


KLIA congestion: Locals to use special QR code on trial basis from this month

<p>The tax return form (BN) filing programme for the year of assessment 2025 is available&nbsp;as a reference and guide for taxpayers submitting their BN forms this year, according to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).</p>


IRB's 2025 tax return form filing programme available as reference for taxpayers

<p>South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Wednesday rejected an attempt by his advisers to resign en masse in the latest twist to the nation’s ongoing political turmoil.</p>

<p>The group of presidential aides, including the chief secretary, the director of national policy, and the national security adviser, have been seeking to step down since Dec&nbsp;3, when President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law and was subsequently impeached.</p>


Second acting president since Yoon's impeachment rejects bids by aides to resign en masse in latest South Korean political twist

<p>The government is considering importing&nbsp;white rice from Pakistan to address ongoing issues with supply and pricing.</p>

<p>National Action Council on Cost of Living (Naccol) Task Force (Food Cluster) chairman Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal&nbsp;said&nbsp;the proposal, submitted to Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas), has the consent of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, but has yet to be finalised.</p>


Govt mulls rice imports from Pakistan to stabilise supply, prices

<p>The price of RON95 petrol will remain unchanged at RM2.05 in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, while the retail price of RON97 will increase by three sen from RM3.25&nbsp;per litre to RM3.28&nbsp;per litre from Jan 2, Thursday,&nbsp;to Jan 8.</p>


Price of RON95 remains unchanged, RON97 and peninsular diesel up by three cents

<p>The residential property market in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor displayed contrasting trends in terms of supply and transactions in the third quarter, says Savills Malaysia director of research and consultancy Fong Kean Hwa in presenting <em>The Edge Malaysia</em> | Savills Klang Valley Residential ...

The Edge Malaysia | Savills Klang Valley Residential Property Monitor 3Q2024: A mixed bag in terms of performance

<p>At the beginning of the year, some industry observers speculated that ESG topics might take a back seat to political drama and geopolitical conflicts that are still ongoing in certain parts of the world.</p>

<p>They were right in many ways. More recently, the re-election of Donald Trump as US ...

<div class="pb-5 imgw-800 mx-auto d-block"><a class="mobx embedimg-icon" data-rel="ceolightbox" href="https://myassets.theedgemalaysia.com/pics/2024/20241226221345_MESG48-TEM1556-IMG02-theedgemalaysia_20241226221344_theedgemalaysia.png"><img alt="" src="https://myassets.theedgemalaysia.com/pics/2024...

<p>Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli’s words, according to which Malaysia is set to adopt nuclear power generation as one of its energy sources in the coming years, are extremely welcome.</p>

<p>According to Rafizi, nuclear power is a cleaner energy source compared to others, which could help the ...

<p>In Southeast Asia, conversations in the Business and Human Rights-Environmental, Social and Governance (BHR-ESG) space focus on encouraging companies to voluntarily adopt sustainability measures and subsequently report on their sustainability initiatives. While some progress has been made, it rem...

<p>Global climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, earlier this month finished 33 hours late with mixed results. COP29, or the 29th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, went down to the wire to reach agreement on climate finance and other contentious issues.<...

<p>The perennial question in the world of climate finance has been how capital from the private sector can be channelled to forest conservation. In Malaysia, this is complicated by the fact that forests are under the purview of each state, which has its own priorities and strategies.</p>

<p>Howev...

Carbon: Creating a national standard for forest carbon credits

<p>Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli has been promoting a new bill on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) since May. The ministry says its implementation is important to Malaysia’s decarbonisation efforts.</p>

<p>The CCUS bill, originally aimed to be tabled in November, will regulate th...