Today, banking professionals, esteemed delegates and experts joined together to discuss the effects of financial institutions on climate change and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) at the second edition of the ‘Malaysian Banking Conference (MBC) — Banking and the ESG Revolution: Going Beyond Aspirations‘ jointly hosted by the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB) and the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM).
To prioritise the Net Zero Carbon 2050 goals, financial regulators across the globe have introduced higher, stricter requirements regarding ESG reporting. This is done to incorporate ESG principles, disclosures and risk mitigation measures into a financial institution’s business strategies, decisions and risk frameworks to support national ESG efforts.
Special addresses were made by the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, and the Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad. Both ministers expressed the importance and critical part that the banking sector plays in slowing, or accelerating, the rate of climate change and greenhouse emissions.
“We can and must try to change potentially catastrophic climate-change effects on Malaysia,” said Tengku Zafrul. The Minister finished his address by pleading with attendees to “work closely with MITI to ramp up our collaborative efforts by being…more aggressive on ESG financing and investments,” for those in “…manufacturing, investments and trade value chains”.
Nik Nazmi urged Malaysian banks to take the lead in championing sustainability within their respective businesses. The Minister believes finance professionals must “embrace the change of mindset, to not be driven solely by profit,” with banks to “green the finance and finance the green”.
At the Malaysian Banking Conference 2023, government branches, financial industry leaders, regulators and sustainability experts assembled at the Shangri-La in Kuala Lumpur to discuss climate initiatives, carbon markets, transition financing, social capital and ways to transfer company practices to become more sustainable.
During the day, experts spoke about the importance of taking action to combat climate change and how financial institutions can contribute to the fight.
The two scheduled panels discussed how Malaysian companies, and by extension those within the ASEAN region, can implement strategies to work towards net zero carbon emissions in their workplaces. One panel, filled with sustainability experts, spoke of how they are pioneering environmentally friendly practices at their respective companies.
The line-up of speakers at the Conference included regulators, ESG experts and captains of the banking and financial industry from esteemed institutions, including Bank Negara Malaysia, Asian Development Bank, Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Securities Commission Malaysia, Maybank, Tenaga National Berhad, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, AmBank, and Sime Darby Plantation, amongst others.
This is the second annual Malaysian Banking Conference the AICB has held, with a larger attendance than the previous edition. Concurrent with the conference, several closed-door, high-level industry roundtables were held to dive deeper into the environmental issues Malaysia face. 
