The Stewardship Asia Centre (SAC) has unveiled its inaugural Steward Leadership 25 (SL25), an annual list of 25 initiatives from organisations in the Asia Pacific region that create sustainable economic value.
SAC is a non-profit organisation established by Temasek in 2014. The SL25 was unveiled with partners Insead Hofmann Global Institute for Business and Society, global advisory WTW and the Straits Times.
Singapore-listed honourees include DBS Bank, City Developments, CapitaLand Investment, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and United Overseas Bank (UOB).
Other notable organisations include BNP Paribas Asset Management, Farm Fresh Berhad, Mandai Wildlife Group, Sunway Group and UBS.
The 25 initiatives were unveiled at the Steward Leadership Summit, held on Nov 30 at the Shangri-La Singapore. Education Minister Chan Chun Sing delivered the keynote address as guest-of-honour.
According to SAC, SL25 highlights narratives from organisations that have demonstrated “resolute actions” in pursuing and achieving their unique versions of stewardship purpose. “Organisational initiatives included in the SL25 list would have demonstrated steward leadership in strategy, execution and shaping culture.”
See also: Temasek launches investment subsidiary GenZero, focused on decarbonisation
The Mandai Wildlife Group, for example, is working to protect coffee and primate landscapes in Indonesia. Malaysia’s Farm Fresh Berhad, meanwhile, has introduced sustainable practices in its dairy farming operations.
In the SL25’s inaugural year, Singapore had an outsized representation among the 95 submissions received, at about 50 entries. Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of SAC, says there is strong interest from the Japanese and South Korean bourses in encouraging their listed companies to participate in the coming year.
Apart from the names above, the other honourees this year come from the Philippines (Angkas, Ayala Corporation), India (Avtar Group, Marico), Thailand (Thai Wah, Noburo Platform), Australia (Mirvac Group), Singapore (Foreword Coffee, Genashtim, Tata Consultancy Services, The Social Kitchen) and the region (UAL Biotech, Guava Amenities, reach52, Faber-Castell).
See also: OCBC joins Net-Zero Banking Alliance, aims to unveil sectoral decarbonisation targets by 1H2023
SAC aims to include global names in subsequent iterations of the SL25, says Peshawaria at a media briefing. For the next four to five years, however, the SL25 will maintain its Asia Pacific focus and cap of 25 honourees.
With a mix of small and medium-sized enterprises, multinational corporations and social enterprises, could SAC’s parent company be eyeing potential investments, perhaps through its decarbonisation-focused subsidiary GenZero?
“I cannot speak for the investment committees in Temasek,” says Peshawaria. “What I can tell you is that we are fully funded by Temasek and Temasek believes very heavily in promoting the sustainability agenda. They already have some interest in these companies, but there is no direct precedent here.”
This year’s judges are: Patrick Daniel, director of SPH Media Trust; Andre Hoffman, vice-chairman of Roche Holding; Professor Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Professor Lily Kong, president of Singapore Management University.
Also on the judging panel are: Munib Madni, CEO of Panarchy Partners; Tan Sri Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, Singapore; Professor Narayan Pant, Raoul de Vitry d’Avaucourt Chaired Professor of Leadership Development at Insead; Professor Joanne Roberts, president of Yale-NUS College; and Veerathai Santiprabhob, chairman of the executive board, Mae Fah Luang Foundation.
Lim Boon Heng, chairman of Temasek Holdings, says: “A rapidly changing world reinforces the principle of taking ownership to do the right thing, and a mindset shift that is critical to driving all of us to work together towards enduring value creation for the benefit of stakeholders, society, the environment and our future generations.”
Lim adds: “These organisations’ initiatives have made a difference and I hope they will inspire others to act.”
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Helen Wong, Group CEO of OCBC Bank, says: “We are honoured that our efforts relating to sustainability have secured a place on this list. Climate action is a collective endeavour. As steward leaders for sustainability, there are three ‘C’s: Commit, Collaborate and Catalyse. We must commit to making policy and process changes and invest in people development; collaboration must also flourish in our interactions with other organisations and the community. Lastly, we must play a catalytic role by enabling and encouraging the transition towards decarbonisation.”
She adds: “I might add a fourth ‘C’: Courage. We were the first bank in Southeast Asia to say we would stop funding new coal-fired power plants and to announce a target for sustainable finance; we were the first in Asia to incorporate ESG factors in assessing investment funding. Especially for organisations that are just embarking on the sustainability journey, I would say courage must certainly not be lacking.”
Esther An, CDL's chief sustainability officer, says: “CDL is honoured to be recognised as one of 25 companies in Asia-Pacific for taking proactive action to pursue and achieve stewardship purpose. This reaffirms our long-standing commitment in sustainable business leadership and driving positive impact in our ecosystem, realising our vision of ‘Conserving as We Construct’ since 1995."
CDL was honoured for its Singapore Sustainable Academy (SSA) initiative, a zero-energy facility along Kitchener Road that has hosted over 700 events for over 23,700 attendees since opening in June 2017.
An adds: "As the planet faces an existential challenge, there is real urgency for businesses to engage and empower stakeholders along the value chain to conserve our environment. We are humbled by the recognition for our pioneering efforts in setting up the SSA as a dynamic hub for thought leadership and capacity building to create a greater force for change towards a more sustainable future for generations to come.”
