October 2021 – According to HSBC’s Sustainable Finance and Investing Survey 2021, an astonishing 94% of companies plan to move away from environmentally- and socially- challenged business models over the next 5 years. And now 51% of companies say that paying attention to ESG issues can help improve returns and reduce risk, rather than just being a compliance matter.
At the same time, half of issuers in the capital markets say that climate change is already impacting their business and 41% say that they need a lot of financial help and investment to meet their sustainability goals.
Meanwhile, 64% of American investors say that they are concerned about “greenwashing”, by their investee companies, reflecting how important ESG matters are to the investing community globally.
Here in Malaysia, it is clear that many companies are looking to address their knowledge gap in fully understanding how sustainability and climate change will impact their business, gaps in skill sets, and concerns on how to evolve their business models to become net zero. Corporates are also finding the adoption of sustainability a challenge with some corporates being very advanced in integrating sustainability into their business while others are just starting to figure things out.
Responding to this situation, HSBC Malaysia is partnering with Climate Governance Malaysia (CGM) to design and host a 4-part sustainability webinar series entitled “Understanding Sustainability and Climate Risks: A Series of Webinars to Future-proof your Business”. This webinar series will help businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to Large Corporates, to embark on their net zero journey. Participating in this series are experts from Bursa Malaysia, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), Ernst & Young, the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association, PWC and many others.
Stuart Milne, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Malaysia said: “The vast majority of the customers we engage with are very aware that they need to have clear plans to transition to lower carbon business models. A critical mass now see this as important for driving competitive advantage. But often they find it difficult to know how to approach the topic from a very practical perspective. That is why we have curated several sustainability webinars with a first of its kind collaboration with Climate Governance Malaysia (CGM). The partnership is especially significant as this is the first time that CGM is partnering with a bank to help drive achievement of Malaysia’s sustainability ambitions.”
These specially curated sustainability webinars will equip businesses with the understanding of what climate change entails, why bankers and regulators are taking this seriously, steps that can be taken to manage the business risks arising from climate change and how to integrate sustainable practices within their own organisations. In addition, businesses which have already embarked on their own sustainability journey will be sharing their learnings and best practices.
Stuart added: “As a bank which has committed to achieve carbon net zero across our entire business and financed customer portfolio by 2050, we at HSBC see our role as helping our customers in their transition to lower carbon business models. We hope that this webinar series will provide practical advice for business leaders here in Malaysia. By working together, we can and will make real progress on humanity’s greatest ever challenge – achieving carbon net zero by 2050.”
The first sustainability webinar, entitled “How climate change will affect your business”, will be held on 15 October at 11am. The session is open to all businesses and will feature thought leaders from CGM, SSM, Ernst & Young, and HSBC. To register, please visit our HSBC Commercial Banking LinkedIn page to find out how you can register.
Details and Picture by HSBC Malaysia
