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Our sustainability strategy is fundamental to the way we approach
and manage our operations.
What do you consider to be
the most critical sustainability
challenges impacting the Group’s
business?
A United Nations report stipulates
that the world population is
expected to reach 9.7 billion by
2050, which will strain natural
resources already in limited supply.
I see other critical challenges
as maintaining a stable and
appropriately skilled workforce;
upholding positive relationships
with our local communities,
particularly in terms of managing
expectations and communicating
effectively about all aspects of
our operations; ensuring access
to a stable energy supply while
reducing our emissions; and finally
underpinning all this is maintaining
customers trust in, and demand
for, our products and services.
And what are the key
opportunities?
The challenges around resource
use that not only our, but all
industries face, will require us
to innovate in order to improve
productivity. Higher productivity
then translates into more
resources to go around and
better standards of living. I also
believe that those in the private
sector plays an important role
in providing stable employment
opportunities. Take for example
our
Plantation Division
– some
of our estates are located in
rather remote areas where we
are significant contributors to the
local economy. As such, we have
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the opportunity to really make a
difference to our communities.
By focusing on initiatives that
help poverty eradication, provide
education and training, encourage
wellbeing for employees and
communities and by protecting
the environment, we can positively
enhance our direct sphere of
influence.
What’s next for the Group
Sustainability Committee? Please
share with us your aspirations.
Our first Sustainability Report is
an important milestone for us. The
development of this report has no
doubt been a learning experience
for the Committee and members
of our teams, yet we acknowledge
that the process of reporting affords
significant benefits in terms of
being able to use the information
we have collected to evaluate our
performance where in some cases,
weaknesses are identified thereby
prompting further monitoring and
due diligence.
We continue to remain committed
to improving our transparency
and accountability vis-à-vis our
disclosures and on this note, we
aspire and are steadily working
towards adopting an integrated
approach to reporting i.e. by
combining financial and non-
financial information on how
the Group is creating long-term
sustainable value for stakeholders
and the environment alike. For me,
doing so is a natural extension of
our journey towards becoming
more sustainable, accountable and
responsible.
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on a broad range of other
sustainability-related matters
and facilitate cross-functional
baseline setting. For example,
a materiality matrix setting out
the key sustainability topics has
been drawn up based on the
results of the stakeholder survey
that was undertaken during
the year. Inter alia, the matrix
has largely affirmed that the
8 United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)
goals we had identified last year
were still relevant to our present-
day businesses.
Given the diverse nature of our
businesses, it takes time to both
create a framework that can
be adopted Group-wide as we
want to base every decision on
facts and data. That said, we are
working towards and hope to be
able to formalize a longer-term
approach to the framework and
set measurable targets in near
term.
I am happy with the initiatives
we’ve taken in terms of
information disclosure
and communication of our
environmental, social and
economic impacts and the areas
for improvement thus far and
believe that readers will find
value in the information we have
compiled.
IN CONVERSATION
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