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Daily Express
26-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
What businesses must contend with
Published on: Saturday, July 26, 2025 Published on: Sat, Jul 26, 2025 By: Sisca Humphrey Text Size: L/R: Ming, Cecilia and Neil. Kota Kinabalu: Businesses must evolve beyond awareness of climate risk and actively quantify and integrate sustainability into their strategic decisions, said Aon executives during their presentation at the Marim Conference 2025 here. Delivering the opening, Aon's Senior Vice President Ming Hui Lim said the world is confronting a confluence of four 'mega trends' that have created new layers of market vulnerabilities: trade disruptions, technological transformation, extreme weather and workforce shifts. 'To stay anti-fragile, we need to be relevant, resourceful, and resilient,' he said. He emphasised that businesses are generally unprepared for the full implications of shifting global trade policies, while investment decisions remain cautious and supply chains fragile. Lim also spoke candidly about the challenges in technology and human capital, noting that while artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure have enhanced productivity, they have also elevated cyber risk. 'In Malaysia, we're seeing heightened exposure among healthcare, real estate and professional service sectors,' he said. He said the presence of four generations in today's workforce also adds complexity. 'Younger employees want flexibility, values, and purpose in their work. If we don't evolve, we won't retain talent, especially given current economic pressures,' he said. Moving on to environmental risk, where Aon's Director for Risk, Climate and Sustainability Cecilia Tse, provided a sobering assessment of business preparedness in the face of climate threats. Referencing the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report, she pointed out that five of the top ten global risks in the coming decade are environmental. 'Despite this, climate and environmental risks remain among those that businesses are least prepared for,' she said. Cecilia outlined three categories of climate-related risk, which are physical, transition and liability. She highlighted that physical risks include both sudden events like flash floods or typhoons and chronic threats like sea level rise and prolonged heatwaves. Transition risks, meanwhile, stem from changes in law, regulation, customer expectations and technology adoption. 'In Malaysia, regulators are moving,' she said, citing Bank Negara's climate stress testing and Bursa Malaysia's phased climate disclosure requirements. 'By 2027, tens of thousands of companies in Asia-Pacific, including here, will be required to file climate disclosures,' she said. She warned of increasing litigation risks, highlighting concepts like greenwashing (exaggerated ESG claims), greenhushing (withholding climate data), and greenwishing (overstating intent without follow-through). 'Disclosures must be credible, measurable, and backed by clear plans,' Cecilia said. Cecilia urged companies to take the initiative even if they are not currently obligated. 'Early adopters have time to build internal capacity and governance confidence. ESG disclosures must be signed off by boards, so understanding and ownership is critical,' she said. Business Development Leader at Aon's Global Risk Consulting Neil Gravestock, focused on the need for quantifying climate risk. 'Qualitative talk is no longer enough. Regulators and investors want numbers,' he said. Gravestock highlighted that a practical approach, which is start small with pilot studies, such as flood mapping or hazard overlays to build understanding. 'Visual tools like heat maps allow organisations to spot hotspots and trends at portfolio level without needing to model every site in detail,' he said. He cautioned, however, against blind reliance on climate models, which often fail to capture on-the-ground realities such as building design, drainage systems, or the presence of flood barriers. 'A flood model might say a building is underwater, but if the water can't enter the premises, the real risk may be negligible,' he said. One case in point was a plantation study where the floodwater itself didn't damage trees, but prolonged silt deposition around roots posed a bigger threat. 'Understanding these details helps organisations focus resources more effectively,' he said. Looking ahead, Gravestock said advances in AI and quantum computing would significantly improve forecasting and modelling. 'Malaysia is aiming to be a regional centre for quantum computing by 2035, and that will transform how we assess environmental risk,' Gravestock said. He concluded that while climate risks pose threats, they also create opportunities, especially in areas like green chemistry, battery technology, and carbon capture. 'What's coming is a complete shift in how we quantify and navigate risk. And we must be ready,' he said. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
23-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Net zero more than renewable energy
Published on: Wednesday, July 23, 2025 Published on: Wed, Jul 23, 2025 By: Sisca Humphrey Text Size: Dr Tan framed the company's climate strategy around two pillars, which are adaptation and mitigation. Kota Kinabalu: Net zero is not just about renewable energy, but it is about a systemic transformation that reshapes supply chains, product design, social commitments and innovation, said Head of Group Transformation at FGV Holdings Berhad Dr Gideon Tan. Speaking at the Marim Conference 2025 in here, recently, Dr Tan said the company's climate action efforts extend far beyond emissions and energy. 'Net zero is not just solar panels or certificates, it's a whole-of-organisation agenda,' he said. To contextualise FGV's sustainability journey, he said the company's complex business divisions, ranging from plantations and downstream processing to logistics, healthcare and even education. He noted that 74 per cent of FGV's palm oil crops come from smallholders, mirroring Asia's broader food system, which heavily depends on them. 'We're not just operating commercial estates. We run clinics and have built 17 schools for the children of migrant workers,' he said. Dr Tan framed the company's climate strategy around two pillars, which are adaptation and mitigation. 'Managing the effects of climate change is adaptation. Tackling the causes is mitigation. We need to do both,' he said. On adaptation, FGV is addressing climate extremes such as flooding and droughts while responding to global policies like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Unable to expand land use due to deforestation restrictions, the group has focused on increasing yields per hectare. 'We no longer have the option to expand land. Yield improvement is the only way forward,' he said, citing their 56-year-old R&D centre that develops higher-yield planting materials. FGV has also deployed technologies like the FGV Geodagger, a satellite-linked device for precision replanting. Turning to mitigation, he emphasised the importance of understanding company emissions through inventory baselining, a process recently validated under the SBTi (Science-Based Targets initiative). The group's mitigation roadmap includes energy efficiency, solar power, bioenergy and transportation reforms. 'Our plantations operate in areas without public utilities. We build our own water, wastewater and energy systems,' he said. On energy efficiency, FGV performs audits across its supply chain and encourages internal innovation. One in-house invention is an electric transporter to replace petrol units for field operations. 'We want our employees to be innovators and our electric transporter was built in-house,' Dr Tan said. FGV's solar strategy leverages Malaysia's NETR framework and includes various ownership and feed-in tariff models. However, it's in bioenergy that the company sees significant potential. FGV operates biogas plants capturing methane emissions from mill effluent ponds, which is a major source of GHG. 'We capture methane before it reaches the atmosphere, one tonne of methane is equivalent to 28 tonnes of CO₂,' he said. It also operates two biomass power plants, including one in Sabah's off-grid areas and is exploring diverse applications for palm biomass, ranging from compost to aviation fuel. 'Palm oil uses only 0.5 per cent of the world's agricultural land, yet produces over a third of global vegetable oil supply,' he said, highlighting the efficiency of palm oil in the global food system. FGV also turns biomass into animal feed using black soldier fly larvae in what he calls a 'bio-refinery without a factory'. 'We turn waste into protein with black soldier fly larvae. It's a bio-refinery without a factory,' he said. As for transportation, FGV is replacing petrol-based field vehicles with EV models and trialling B100 biodiesel in logistics trucks and passenger vehicles. Dr Tan reiterated that net zero should not be reduced to a single target or technology. 'Net zero is not a slogan. It's a systemic shift in how we operate across supply chains, products and people,' he said. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
19-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Vulnerable to pollution, industrial waste issues
Published on: Saturday, July 19, 2025 Published on: Sat, Jul 19, 2025 By: Sisca Humphrey Text Size: Clive said liability limits commonly purchased by companies are often insufficient to cover potential environmental claims. Kota Kinabalu: Many Malaysian businesses may lack adequate insurance protection against pollution and industrial waste incidents, according to a briefing by SP&G Gallagher Insurance Brokers Sdn Bhd (SP&G) Environmental Specialist Clive Goddard. Clive said liability limits commonly purchased by companies are often insufficient to cover potential environmental claims. Advertisement 'It is not unusual to see liability cover capped at RM10 million or less. In some cases, this may not reflect the scale of possible losses,' he said at the Marim Conference 2025 in here on Tuesday. He stated the 1982 Bukit Merah rare earth processing case as an example of long-term environmental damage. 'The incident involved radiation exposure in a Perak town, with cleanup efforts still ongoing decades later,' Clive said. Clive also noted that the costs of decontamination have exceeded RM300 million and most of the burden did not fall under insurance coverage. More recently, the Puchong pipeline fire raised concerns about the state of underground infrastructure and the potential consequences of ground subsidence. He cited that similar issues have occurred with a gas pipeline between Sabah and Sarawak, which experienced several structural failures due to shifting soil. 'Some of these cases have not been widely reported, but they are known within the industry,' he added. Another emerging issue mentioned during the session was the presence of PFAS chemicals in consumer and industrial products. Known for their resistance to breakdown, these substances are increasingly found in water sources and human blood samples globally. Clive said they present regulatory and liability challenges that are still being assessed. He also emphasised on carbon capture and storage (CCS), referencing Petronas' Kasawari project in Sarawak, which aims to store carbon dioxide extracted from offshore gas operations. The initiative is one of several being explored to manage emissions from oil and gas production. Despite these developments, he said there is still limited uptake of comprehensive environmental liability insurance among local firms. 'Policy wordings are often narrow. They may exclude gradual pollution, statutory clean-up costs and other exposures that companies assume are covered,' he said. SP&G Gallagher, part of the global Gallagher insurance group, is encouraging businesses to review their coverage in light of current industrial and legislative changes. This includes recent amendments to the Environmental Quality Act and proposals under public consultation that may place more responsibility on site owners. 'Companies need to be clear on what their policies do and do not cover. This is especially relevant as industrial activity increases under national development plans,' he said. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
