Is sustainability dead?

 

Local sponsors of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) recently searched for the pulse of Malaysian sustainability but failed to find any.

Their Malaysia Business Sustainability Pulse Report 2022, sponsored by major stakeholders, an international consultant and a foreign franchise university, solicited the views of 261 direct associates of the sponsors.

This was not a representative sample. Only 46% of the respondents were micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) compared to 97% of all companies in Malaysia.

These were accessed through their links to government agencies, giving 121 out of the 1.23 million MSMEs reported by SMECorp. The 8.5 million businesses as sole proprietors and partnerships were not included.

Respondents had to express an interest in the SDGs before completing the survey. In their companion survey for ordinary people you cannot even answer the questions unless you support the SDGs. So it should really be viewed as a vox-pop among people who know and care about the SDGs rather than as a survey of the general population.

The results show that no one really cares. Overall, 81% indicated that they had no commitment to the SDGs or that they were irrelevant to their business.

Around 86% were not involved with sustainable finance and one-third said it was irrelevant. Around 95% of the corporate respondents said they had no budget for sustainability and all of these said they do not spend anything on sustainability competencies among their employees.

On specific issues such as community development, diversity and discrimination, around 64%, 66% and 62%, respectively, have not started or think it is irrelevant. Only one-third said they adopt human rights practices and 31% said they thought human rights are irrelevant or they do not understand them. It is too terrifying to go on but you get the picture.

In another example of sustainable irrelevance, the government launched the National Energy Policy 2022-24 that will pivot Malaysia toward a clean energy future. This massive endeavour will add a very precisely estimated 207,000 jobs over the next 18 years, or 11,500 jobs per year. This is precisely 0.07% of the total labour force. It will contribute RM13 billion per year or precisely 0.8% of total GDP. These shares may well fall as hydrocarbon-fuelled growth propels us into the future.

Actually, since the fiscal input is RM4.3 billion and the investment input is RM9.2 billion, it costs more than it will contribute.

At the end of it all, 83% of Malaysia’s energy will still be provided by hydrocarbons, which already support 28% of GDP and four million jobs. Oil and gas will still account for 20% of GDP and 25% of government revenue, and palm oil will still contribute RM70 billion to RM100 billion in export revenues. So much for the environment and net-zero carbon.

Governance issues are important in the SDG agenda but Malaysia has just jailed a former prime minister for corruption. It has been put into the lowest tier for human trafficking, there has been an international labour ban due to labour abuses which is costing billions, eight companies, including two GLCs, had their products banned and others had their supplier contracts with multinationals terminated due to human rights issues. There is an unending list of corporate governance scandals almost on a daily basis.

As a defence against apathy and reality, the government has adopted the SDGs as a cornerstone of policy. They have even set up a RM20 million Yayasan SDG to capture the space along with big business in mega-events at five-star venues.

So given this massive support the question is: Why has the Malaysian government-supported SDG agenda become so irrelevant? Or is the answer in the question? - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do no necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.