Sustainability Solutions

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Shareholders expect companies to generate profits but, increasingly they also want companies to make a positive contribution to society whilst minimising negative effects on the environment. This approach to business – balancing economic, social and environmental interests is commonly referred to as corporate responsibility (CR) or sustainability.

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A corporate responsibility (CR) agenda begins with a commitment to incorporate social, environmental, economic and ethical factors into the company’s strategic decision-making. How do these factors affect the business and stakeholders? How does one address the risks and opportunities?

Companies are increasingly being held responsible for not only their own activities, but for those of their suppliers, business partners, the community and the people who use or are impacted by their products. They are held accountable not only by investors and shareholders but by the government, media, employees, community groups, non-government organisations, environmentalists and customers.

What market developments have driven CR onto the CEO agenda?

Bursa Malaysia’s requirement for public listed companies to disclose their CR activities or practices in their annual reports beginning the financial year ending 31 December 2007.
International investors' and, increasingly, local investors' interest in the performance of non-financial areas of the business.
The increasing battle for talent attraction and retention.
The Silver Book, published by the Putrajaya Committee on Government Linked Companies (GLC) High Performance, outlines a set of principles and guidelines, which GLCs can implement in order to proactively contribute to society while still creating shareholder value.

In order to stay relevant, a business must respond to these developments as well as an array of issues in the CR arena. A sustainable business should to be able to measure, document and report a positive ROI on economic, environmental and social bottom lines (the same goes for benefits to their stakeholders). To meet the challenges of sustainability and CR, companies have to put these issues at the heart of their business.

Do these questions ring true with you?

How does sustainability impact my company's reputation?
Can sustainability become a strategic advantage and open up new markets?
How much of ‘doing the right thing’ is enough and where should I be doing it?
How much do my current CR initiatives cost me? Do my contributions have a positive impact?
Am I maximising the impact of my CR budget?
How can sustainability reduce costs while qualifying for tax incentives?
How can I build sustainability into my talent management strategy?
Has sustainability been integrated into my key functions, e.g. supply chain, human resources, operations, corporate communications and marketing?
Who in my value chain can I partner with to address sustainability issues and how?
What do I report? Does my non-financial reporting conform to local and international standards?
Should I seek independent assurance to add credibility to my CR reporting?

How we can help

As part of an international team of sustainability practitioners, PwC Malaysia’s Sustainability Solutions group can help you: understand which issues have the greatest impact on your business, form a coherent strategy to address them, and support you through the often complex organisational changes needed to put your strategy in place. We can work with you on:

CR strategy/ framework design and implementation
CR measurement including cost/effort - benefit assessment
CR function set-up or definition of CR roles & responsibilities
CR assurance and reporting advice
Sustainability due diligence
CR tax optimisation and structuring advice
Carbon & climate change advice