Kuala Lumpur, 26 November 2021 – PETRONAS’ inaugural FutureTalks ended on Wednesday on a positive note with dialogues demonstrating strengthened commitment for collaboration among thought leaders in paving a holistic way towards a carbon-neutral future.
The two-day dialogue, comprising six panel discussions themed ‘Stewardship in Energy Sustainability with Technology, Research and Development’, saw the exchange of innovative insights and presentations of synergistic opportunities to navigate the energy transition. PETRONAS FutureTalks has been featured on PETRONAS’ official YouTube channel since 23 November 2021.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Economic Affairs Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, together with PETRONAS President and Group CEO Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik, set the tone with the first session titled ‘Energy Transition and Climate Change – Can we move faster?’ which called for collective efforts at global, national and individual levels to reach decarbonisation ambitions. Moderated by PETRONAS Chief Sustainability Officer Charlotte Wolff-Bye, panellists also included Temasek International Executive Director and CEO Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara and PT Pertamina Director of Strategy, Portfolio and New Ventures, Iman Rachman.
Dato’ Sri Mustapa commended PETRONAS’ initiative in rallying decision-makers to solidify their sustainability commitments as well as encourage the sharing of best practices in technological research and development among enterprises with the aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“In line with the objective of the 12th Malaysia Plan, which is ‘A Prosperous, Inclusive, Sustainable Malaysia’, we are taking a more assertive approach in accelerating the sustainability agenda and addressing the climate change issue. The private sector, as an important contributor to the nation, should comply with the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) requirements for the benefit of the society. We are pleased to note that PETRONAS is doing this, and we need to ensure that every company in the country is embracing a similar agenda,” he said.
Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik added, “In navigating the energy transition, we need to accept that many economies are at very different stages of maturity. We need to have a very deliberate transition plan unique to each country that is responsible, just and equitable. Therefore, any key commitment made must be supported by the unprecedented levels of collaboration between policymakers, investing community, industry leaders, energy players and society. These are absolutely critical to create an ecosystem that embraces energy transition as the only means of ensuring a sustainable future.”
Other topics discussed in FutureTalks were Digital Ingenuity for Business Sustainability; R&D to Unlock New Opportunities for Sustainability and Accelerating Energy Transition; Talent Development for R&D – Building New Types of Capability and Venturing Out from Core Business; From Ideas to Reality – The Innovation Process and Business Excellence; and Facilitating Investment of Innovation and Digitalisation in Malaysia.
Panellists who participated in the dialogue included leaders from multinational corporations and institutions such as Bursa Malaysia, AmBank Berhad, Microsoft Malaysia, AWS Professional Services, Shopee Malaysia, Aker Solutions, Telekom Malaysia, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Imperial College London, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, PTT Exploration and Production, McKinsey & Company, and PETRONAS.
