A partnership to deliver Malaysia’s sustainability ambitions is what HSBC Malaysia’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Climate Governance Malaysia (CGM) is about.
Through this significant partnership, the first time that CGM is partnering with a bank, HSBC and CGM aim to educate the wider business community on the need to pave the way for a greener and more sustainable future and to achieve increased awareness and capacity development amongst businesses in the country.
“CGM plays a fundamental role in steering companies through an effective climate transition strategy, taking into account the need for financial stability, increased resilience and sustainability. And in terms of banks, the most significant contribution we can make is to provide financing for sustainable initiatives and to work in partnership with our customers as they transition to a low carbon world,” Stuart Milne, CEO, HSBC Malaysia says.
Collaborations between nonprofit organisations, the private and public sector as well as financial institutions are key to helping businesses begin their net-zero journeys, and to ultimately help drive and achieve Malaysia’s sustainability ambitions.
Datin Seri Sunita Rajakumar, Founder, Climate Governance Malaysia says, “Financial institutions have a critical role to play in developing the sustainability and climate literacy of Malaysian businesses, especially our small and medium enterprise (SME) community, which forms the bedrock of our economy. I am gratified to see HSBC step up to meet this need which will strengthen the resilience of the financial system.”
A large number of businesses have clear plans to transition to lower carbon business models and they see it as important for driving competitive advantage. But often they find it difficult to know how to approach the topic from a very practical perspective. However, there is an equally large number of businesses adopting a wait and see approach, especially SMEs and mid-tier companies.
The need for information on ‘how to start’ and ‘why should we start’ is the reason that HSBC Malaysia and CGM have curated several sustainability webinars to help equip businesses of all sizes, from SMEs to large corporates, to embark on their net zero journey.
