Businesses drive towards sustainability change to preserve environment
Three influential media powerhouses in Asia have joined forces on June 21 to launch Asia’s first ESG Positive Impact Consortium, A-EPIC, to bring tangible impact of ESG to the social, economic and global landscape.
As part of its mission, the Consortium also aims to collaborate with businesses to foster sustainable development across Asia and beyond.
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As part of its mission, the Consortium also aims to collaborate with businesses to foster sustainable development across Asia and beyond.
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00:00Three influential media powerhouses in Asia have joined forces on June 21st to launch
00:09Asia's first ESG positive impact consortium, AEPIC.
00:14Star Media Group, Indonesia's media group of Kompas Gramedia, KG Media, and the Inquirer
00:20Group of Companies from the Philippines collaborated to bring tangible impact of ESG to the social,
00:27economic and global landscape.
00:30As part of its mission, the consortium also aims to collaborate with businesses to foster
00:35sustainable development across Asia and beyond.
00:39Additionally, the consortium is also proud to introduce Saim Darby Property Berhad for
00:44its upcoming flagship initiatives between these media powerhouses.
00:49For us, we are pretty much driven by our sustainability framework.
00:53If you look at our 2023 report, it incorporates the element of ESG and how we have targets
00:59to hit net zero by 2050, we have a target for 2030, to go for 40% reduction of our Scope
01:061 and Scope 2, and stick to the fact that this is something that we need to do and engage
01:12the entire organisation.
01:13It's something very important to us.
01:16It identifies with our purpose.
01:19First of all, we want to raise awareness.
01:20We know there's a lot of companies struggling in these areas, and a lot of them are SMEs.
01:25So one of the main goals is to help raise awareness, help these companies understand
01:32and give them a platform on how to reach and understand it better.
01:36So we can help do that with a lot of these companies.
01:39Well, I think it's a very good effort to come together as a region to encourage and
01:48promote everyone towards the ESG agenda, or rather the SDG agenda.
01:57I think the timing is very important, very crucial at this point in time.
02:03The recent report by the UN Secretary General shows that to date only about 17% of the SDGs
02:12are on track to be achieved by 2030.
02:15That means 83% are off track, nowhere near fulfilling its aspirations by 2030.
02:24And what is more worrying is that 17% have actually regressed.
02:2817% of the 169 targets, I think, have actually regressed and gone worse.
02:35So it's a very important time for us to double our efforts towards pursuing the SDGs.
02:44It's definitely a very exciting step forward.
02:47The media plays a very important role in terms of creating awareness of issues, in terms
02:52of highlighting best practices and showcasing ideas, good ideas that can be replicated by
02:58other companies.
03:00So having this collaboration, bringing partners together, I think it's a real breakthrough
03:04to help us move towards the right direction for the future.
03:09And what the STAR is doing today, the STAR Media Group, that is exemplary in terms of
03:15collaborating with the wider network and now taking it beyond Malaysia to Asia.
03:21I think it's a very important collaboration, given that the STAR, the KG Media, as well
03:26as the Inquirer of the Philippines, they have a readership totaling, if I recall reading
03:31earlier, 153 million in these three countries.
03:34So it's very important that these three media giants play their role in promoting the SDGs,
03:40not just to their current readership, but also for new readers as well.
03:44I think this collaboration is extremely important because Asia houses a majority of the world's
03:51population.
03:53The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals will be realised in Asia, especially
04:00in Southeast Asia.
04:01We have a huge onus on us to act fast when it comes to climate change.
04:06So the collaboration will help move the needle in the right direction.
04:11Communication at regional level and also coming together as an ecosystem are two very critical
04:17factors in ensuring that we get to deploy, we get to raise the awareness on sustainability.
04:24So I believe that this is the right move at the right time for all of us.
04:29We don't need to stress how important it is anymore.
04:31We see it on an everyday basis as individuals and citizens.
04:36But certainly for companies, businesses, nations, this becomes not only a global imperative
04:43in looking after the planet and people in terms of also preserving your profit, but
04:50ensuring that we do no harm and leave no one behind, ensure that there is a future for
04:59our children and generations to come.
05:02ESG is not a buzzword.
05:06No doubt there are a lot of alphabets soaked in the space of ESG, but I think that all
05:11of us are experiencing the importance of climate, not just only crisis, but also climate action.
05:17We are here on Mother Earth for a number of years, but we should actually think of
05:22the future generation.
05:24Decarbonisation, job creation or even responsible business is key.
05:30So ESG is nothing new, but if you put together all the principles of sustainable practices,
05:36I think it can really help not just businesses, but also the future generation.
05:41As key influencers of the media landscape, the consortium recognises that its responsibility
05:47extends beyond news gathering and distribution on nation building.
05:51With the global economy transitioning towards sustainability practices, ESG practices are
05:57becoming essential for businesses to thrive in the green economy.