Kuala Lumpur, 1 December 2020 – Riding on the momentum of its Net Zero Carbon Emissions 2050 declaration in October, PETRONAS has joined forces with the United Nations Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMY&B) at the recent GO ESG ASEAN Corporate Sustainability Virtual Summit 2020 to position sustainability at the core of business recovery efforts in ASEAN.
Aptly themed “The Business of Recovering Better – A Resilient & Sustainable ASEAN by Design”, the Summit, which was held from 2 to 30 November 2020 drew both local and regional online participants.
Speaking at the event, PETRONAS Vice President of Group Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Dzafri Sham Ahmad said that the summit was an opportune occasion to support PETRONAS’ aspiration of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
He said: “PETRONAS’ strategy is to continue minimising the impact of our carbon footprint in existing and future operations and deploy more low carbon solutions technologies. We need to have a full understanding of market readiness and changes in consumer behaviour in order to determine the required capital investments.
“We believe there are opportunities in growing our low-carbon portfolio and increasing circularity in our resource consumption to optimise costs. We are already seeing positive results through efforts that we have put in two decades ago to reduce emissions. Over the same period, our technology strategy also delivered improved efficiencies.”
Dzafri added that PETRONAS is looking into the possibility of deploying more low carbon solutions in the long term, with a project on carbon capture & storage (CCS) on the horizon. Other types of low carbon solutions include carbon utilisation technologies, bio-based products, and hydrogen amongst others.
In order to achieve the 2050 aspiration, Dzafri pointed out that a concerted effort and collaboration between policy makers, industries, consumers and other key stakeholders is required. “Collaborations will be the key driver for PETRONAS to grow our businesses and support a green and clean agenda together with our partners.”
Executive Director of UNGCY&B Faroze Nadar said: “The shift in focus from restarting to reimagining business is an opportunity to make way for a new, environmentally friendly economy in the creation of the world we want – not to recover to the old normal but resetting for a sustainable and integrated global system in the post-pandemic era. The summit is indeed timely as it presents a platform for SMEs and Corporates within ASEAN to come together and demonstrate climate leadership.”
The Summit featured high-level global and regional speakers, including a pool of heads of governments, with topics curated around global sustainability megatrends, the UNGC 10 Principles and ASEAN priority areas.
