Sustainability is the path to prosperity for both humanity and businesses. Inaction on the part of businesses will result in even greater catastrophic damage to our environment and economies due to climate change. The choice between going green and achieving long-term profits is, therefore, no longer a matter of preference but of necessity. Here’s how companies from various industries are making efforts to invest in our planet.
Leo Laforgia, country manager of Amazon Singapore
To combat climate change, we will need large-scale and local action – and Amazon remains committed to investing in both. While we use our size and scale to help drive progress, we cannot do this alone. This is why we co-founded and became the first signatory of The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040, which has now been signed by more than 400 companies from 35 countries.
With support from the Singapore Economic Development Board, Amazon and Conservation International also launched the International Blue Carbon Institute. It aims to boost carbon capture by marine ecosystems in Southeast Asia and beyond. We will continue to invest in nature-based solutions to supplement the carbon-reduction efforts we’re driving across our operations in Singapore and globally.
Martin Jaeger, chief executive officer & head of Southeast Asia, BSH Home Appliances
At BSH, we leverage our innovative strength to meet business and sustainability goals. Since 2020, we have been developing and manufacturing in a CO2-neutral manner across 39 BSH sites worldwide. This is achieved by improving processes to be energy efficient, switching to green electricity, and offsetting unavoidable CO2 emissions with carbon credits.
Just as we invest in technology and innovation to meet sustainability goals, we want to help families lead sustainable lives through technology and innovation. For example, Bosch PerfectDry dishwashers with Zeolith technology use natural minerals to convert humidity to heat and dry your dishes thoroughly with up to 20% less energy than conventional dishwashers.
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We are committed to investing in a sustainable future and hope to inspire our customers to do the same.
Tan Sung Cheng, managing partner, Cisbay AsiaPac
At Cisbay AsiaPac, everything that we do every day is about mitigating the issues that planet Earth faces. The excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides has degraded soils, which in turn affects food security. Agriculture is also a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
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We work closely with farmers in numerous countries across Asia to rejuvenate, restore and regenerate soil health. Our patented agribiotech reintroduces the much-depleted biodiversity back to marginal soil and, in doing so, unlocks nutrients and makes them more readily available to crops for healthier and better growth. Many of our customers – smallholder farmers and agribusinesses – have significantly improved yield and reduced their chemical inputs by using Cisbay’s solutions.
In this way, we are able to go straight to the heart of the matter by addressing some of the most critical challenges, delivering a maximum positive impact on our planet through our joint efforts.
Raghav Gupta, managing director, Asia Pacific, Coursera.
There are two main drivers of green jobs: Greening jobs of the traditional industries and emerging green sectors of the future. This growth is driven by dropping technology costs, greater consumer demand for clean energy and efficiency technologies, as well as supportive policies and investments by the public sector.
We’re seeing large-scale skilling efforts by governments, enterprises, universities and individual learners, globally and in Singapore, to build capacity and invest in the critical skills required to build the new digital sustainable world.
An Accenture report reveals that 75% of Singaporean youth are aspiring to have a career in the green economy. Singapore’s SkillsFuture predicts that many new jobs will be needed in the green economy, and existing workers will need to enhance their skills. We see a 35% quarter-over-quarter increase in enrollment among Singaporean learners in courses related to environmental science and sustainability. This eagerness to acquire green skills reflects the learners’ desire to transition to in-demand careers, contribute to environmental and societal betterment, and support Singapore’s sustainability revolution.
Ong Hsiao Min, senior director, Security and Environment, Health and Safety, Asia, Jabil
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In 2021, Jabil announced data-driven, science-based goals, designed to propel the company forward in its sustainability journey and provide fresh opportunities for growth, value creation and long-term business resiliency.
At Jabil, our focus on sustainability is grounded by our actions. For example, from landfill to land fuel, Jabil Bandung introduced three alternative waste reduction strategies to help avoid landfills, including a waste composting programme that creates high-value biomasses such as oils and proteins. In Malaysia, Jabil Penang was awarded the AmCham Malaysia Cares Champion Achievers in ESG in recognition of its consecutive wins from 2020-2022 in the “Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)” in driving improvement-based community partnerships.
While we proactively manage our own environmental impacts, supporting our customers has also provided us with deep knowledge of the unique sustainability challenges faced by a wide variety of industries, as well as best practices and expertise from which to draw.
Hans Vestberg, chairman and chief executive officer, Verizon
At Verizon, we are mobilising our resources, partnerships and people to help protect the planet for future generations. As we consider our role in climate protection, we believe that the next-generation capabilities enabled by Verizon’s 5G technology will not only present opportunities to deliver tremendous value to our stakeholders but also provide critical solutions for a sustainable future.
Last year, Verizon’s solutions helped our customers reduce their energy consumption, enabling the avoidance of over 15.2 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions, equivalent to taking nearly 3.3 million cars off the road for one year. Over the past five years, our solutions have enabled the avoidance of over 73 million metric tons of CO2e.
In 2022, Verizon continued to be a leader in green finance, issuing our fourth US$1 billion green bond, which we fully allocated to renewable energy agreements in February 2023. We are one of the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy in the U.S., with around 3.3 gigawatts of anticipated renewable energy under contract as of February 10, 2023.
Bhupinder Singh, president, Asia Pacific & Middle East, Vodafone Business
At Vodafone Business, we connect for a better future by enabling inclusive and sustainable digital societies. We believe what is good for the planet, is good for business too. In fact, our Fit for the Future Report revealed 74% of businesses in Asia Pacific that reported higher profits last year had a formal environmental, sustainability and governance programme in place.
Technology plays a critical role in driving ESG goals. We strive to use 100% renewable electricity across our network by 2025 to power our services sustainably. We’ve also optimised the energy efficiency of our Singapore and Hong Kong offices through the use of sensors.
We also believe that by intelligently connecting data, things and people, we can better support businesses on their sustainability journeys. Through technologies like 5G, IoT and more, we aim to enable businesses to reduce their own carbon emissions by 350 million tonnes globally by 2030, leveraging solutions like smart metering, efficient network management and more.
