Sarawak Energy bags top honours at UNGCMYB Awards 2023

KUCHING (Nov 27): Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) emerged triumphant at the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei (UNGCMYB) Forward Faster Sustainability Awards 2023, held on Saturday night.

The recognition reaffirmed the state-owned energy company’s commitment to embedding sustainable principles and practices into its operations, aligning strongly with global frameworks for sustainable development.

At the prestigious event, SEB group chief executive officer Datuk Sharbini Suhaili was honoured with the top award, ‘UNGCMYB Forward Faster CEO’, presented by federal Deputy Minister for Economy Dato Hanifah Hajar Taib.

Also attending was Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed, a distinguished fellow at the UN Sustainable Solutions Network at Sunway University. He is also the advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Sharbini was nominated for the award, alongside corporate leaders from Malayan Banking Berhad, Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad and Pos Malaysia Berhad.

“Last year, he received the principal award, Sustainability Influencer Award, in recognition of his stewardship and influence in leading Sarawak Energy Bhd on its sustainability journey,” the company said in a release.

Meanwhile Mohd Irwan Aman, SEB general manager for sustainability, received the ‘Special Climate Fellow Award’.

The SEB was also awarded under the ‘Biodiversity’ category, and received recognitions for ‘Partnership for the Goals and for Sustainability Awareness and Employee Engagement’. The award had over 200 nominations in total.

It is also learnt that SEB was the first corporation in Malaysia to commit to the 1.5-Degree Celsius Pledge in 2020 and recently received official target validation by Science Based Target initiative (SBTi).

Meanwhile, Sharbini said SEB was recognised globally for its dedication towards sustainable development, where its sustainability strategy had always been focusing on setting science-based emission reduction targets and implementing climate-related financial disclosures for better governance.

“We took on this corporate transformation to bring our sustainability strategies into actionable goals and we are actively building a community of sustainability practitioners in Sarawak Energy.

“Together with this we also recognise that collaborations and croos organisational learnings with like-minded organisations are essential elements to achieving these goals,” he added.