46 wins big for Sustainable Development Goals

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Forty-six winners were crowned during the recently held 2018 Global Responsible Business Leadership Awards with winner spanning all over the region.

In a night of glitz and glam, the 2018 Global Responsible Business Leadership Awards recognised leaders across the globe.

The Award were in conjunction with the 10th Asia Pacific CSR Forum, themed 'Unlocking the Business Potential in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), organised by Asia Pacific CSR Council and Institute of Sustainability. The awards programme is supported by Office of The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Chamber of Socially Responsible Malaysia, Sino-European Industry Business Association and European Union Delegation to Malaysia. The awards programme strategic partners are Koperasi Usahawan Metropolitan Kuala Lumpur Berhad and MCM Max Capital Management Holding Ltd.

The aim of the awards is to promote the idea of Corporate Sustainability, and Corporate Responsibility as a Holistic approach for business development on a global scale, while at the same time, enhance the awareness for sustainable development within the business community and society.

The objective of the awards is to recognise leaders who had excelled in corporate sustainability, giving them a competitive leadership advantage.

Additionally, the awards recognise winners who serve to be benchmarks as exemplar of sustainable business practices to other organisations in accordance to SDGs.

Also, it creates a network of professionals and practitioners committed to furthering the sustainability agenda on a global scale.

There are a total 17 SDGs which in turn are built on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals while also including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, and peace and justice, among others.

SDGs work in the spirit of partnership and pragmatism to make the right choices now to improve in a sustainable way for future generations. They provide clear guidelines and targets for all countries to adopt in accordance with their own priorities and the environmental challenges of the world at large.

There are total of five areas that the judges look at when it comes to determining the winner of the Awards.

The first materiality which determines if the applicant to the award has considered relevant sustainability factors. Next the panel of judges look at the stakeholder engagement which determines if the applicant has taken various stakeholder views and concerns into consideration.

Next, they will assess the economic performance of the company with regard to mitigating impacts as sustainability trends on a company's finance and contribution to local and national economy.

The last two items that fall under the purview of the panel is environmental and social. For the former, the judges look at the performance of the applicant with regard to resource use, while for the latter, they assess the performance with regard to labour management, human rights and impacts on society.

In a foreword message, Chris Daniel Wong, Co-Organising Chairman said: "Our ambition is to grow our business while focusing on preserving the planet, progressing people and perpetuating participatory progress because we believe in better communities and a better future for everyone."

Additionally, he adds that the organisers of the Award recognised that companies are at different stages in their sustainability journeys.

"Many already understand the importance of the SDGs and how their work relates to them. But others go further, by strategically aligning their sustainability work with the SDGs, thus addressing their own positive and negative impacts, while also promoting innovative thinking," he said.

Meanwhile, Roger Wong, the President of the Asia Pacific CSR Council said in a foreword that he believed that if all businesses were conducted in a globally responsible manner, a different could be made, thus creating a positive impact on the environment.

The event took place at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre, and was graced by His Royal Highness Tengku Idris Ibni Almarhum Sultan Abu Bakar, Price of Pahang, while the Head of Trade and Economic Relations from the European Union Delegation to Malaysia, Mr. Nicolas Dross was in attendance along with the others panel of judges, Tan Sri Dr. Hj. Mohd Shukor bin Hj. Mahfar, the former Director General of Inland Revenue of Malaysia and Matthias Gelber, the World Greenest Man.

Adding to the list of VIPs is Organising Chairman and Special Officer to Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Home Minister of Malaysia, Rizmel Nazrin Dato' Abdul Malik.

In his foreword, Rizmel said that any kind of growth is meaningless without excellence and sustainability.

"The SDGs represent an internationally shared global agenda for sustainability looking forward to 2030. They address the most pressing challenges of our time, including climate change, resource depletion, poverty and social injustice.

"The SDGs call on everyone, including companies, to conduct self-examination and to take a proactive role through collaboration and innovation," he said.

He added that long-term business success also hinges on the realisation of the SDGs, we will need to transform the entire economic system, most notably cities, and mobility, energy and materials, food, land and water.

The list of the awards winners:

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180502/2121653-1