SMEs form the backbone of the Malaysian economy, but how prepared are they to embrace ESG standards and practices that are rapidly becoming the norm in global business? A report jointly commissioned by Alliance Bank, the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei, and SME Corp Malaysia, explores the level of ESG adoption among SMEs in Malaysia. We discuss the findings and recommendations to empower SMEs with Rizal IL-Ehzan, CEO of Alliance Islamic.

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Although the Penang South Islands (PSI) have yet to be built, the project won a Low Carbon City design award from the Malaysian Green Tech Corp in February this year, which drew flack from environmentalists and civil society groups. We speak to Samantha Ho, a regional correspondent with the sustainability news portal Eco-Business, on why the PSI project is so controversial.

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How transparent are companies when it comes to ESG reporting? The Global ESG Monitor assesses transparency levels across ten market indices, including the FBMKLCI. We speak to the co-founders of the study, Michael Diegelmann and Arianne Hofstetter on their findings, why transparency in reporting is lacking and how to improve ESG disclosure practices.

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Malaysia is at a nascent stage of its carbon pricing journey, recently launching a voluntary carbon market on Bursa Malaysia, with a carbon tax and domestic emissions trading scheme also being considered. What factors go into carbon pricing design and why are CPI initiatives important? We discuss this with Darshan Joshi, climate consultant with the Asia Foundation and co-author of the report: Carbon Pricing and the Business Case for Emissions Reductions and Nature Conservation in Malaysia.

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The amount of municipal solid waste that Malaysia produces is akin to developed economies, yet our waste management systems lag behind regional peers. What are the gaps in waste management that need to be addressed in order to achieve true circularity in the economy? Waste management expert Prof. Agamuthu Pariatamby gives us his policy recommendations.

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We typically hear about water pollution in the news when it becomes a significant problem to affected communities. Are we doing enough to prevent water pollution from happening in the first place? Water quality and modelling specialist Dr. Zaki Zainuddin helps us better understand how water pollution is being addressed.

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As Malaysia strives to increase its renewable energy mix from less than 5% to 31% come 2030, how much can biomass contribute to the target? We discuss the state of play for biomass energy and the policy push needed to harness the economic potential of the industry with Dr. Denny Ng of Sunway University.

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Malaysia has a target of achieving 40% of its renewable energy mix by 2035, but we're starting from the low base of 3.3% in 2023. Can Australia provide lessons in building up renewable energy capacity given the explosion of solar energy take up in recent years? We discuss trends in renewable energy with Dr. Andrew Blakers of ANU.

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The retabled Budget 2023 is the largest on record, but what does it say about the government's priorities for sustainability and climate change action? Climate change expert Dr. Gary Theseira walks us through some of the key initiatives in Budget 2023 as well as the policy gaps that need to be addressed to progress towards Malaysia's sustainability targets.

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Malaysia has made no secret of its intention to advance low-carbon mobility by encouraging the take-up of electric vehicles. However in order for EVs to run, there also has to be an adequate network of charging infrastructure. What policies would support the government target of 10,000 charging stations by 2025 - and what else is needed to develop the EV ecosystem? We discuss this with Alireza Mehrtash of ABB Malaysia.

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