On November 28-29, AmCham’s Energy & ESG Committee held its first major conference on “ESG in Asia”, featuring sessions on a wide range of topics relevant to Energy, Society and Governance (ESG) management. Keynote speakers were Mukul Deoras, President of Colgate-Palmolive Asia-Pacific Limited, and Genevieve Hilton, sustainability advisor and chair of the E&ESG Committee of AmCham.
Colgate’s Deoras argued that ESG governance and reporting were important “not because it’s forced on us but because it is good for our business,” and said that ESG reporting is now a function inside every company. Asia is a hot spot in global carbon reduction because it contributes 60% of mismanaged plastic; Colgate is developing recyclable toothpaste tubes on an open-source basis so that other companies can more easily convert and make it more economic for waste pickers to collect them.
Debra Tan of China Water Risk talked about how water and carbon dioxide are fundamentally linked, with water representing a stranded asset risk from economic development. By September, she noted, the world was already at 1.75 degrees, and since 2 degrees is too hot for ice formation, sea level rise is irreversible and certain. If we fail to rein in carbon emissions, 3-4 billion people could face chronic water scarcity, with 90% of Himalayan ice and 50% of Swiss glaciers lost within the decade. 200 million people are at risk for every 1 meter sea level rise, with 2-3 million more people at risk for every centimeter. A 2 degree increase in global temperature will likely commit us to a 12-20 meter sea level rise. She said that companies need to stop talking only about mitigation strategies and start talking about “aggressive adaptation”.
Even Internet companies have substantial concerns with Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction. Yongping Zhai, senior advisor on carbon neutrality at Tencent Holdings Limited, explained that 90% of Tencent’s demand comes from data centers. It has a carbon neutrality laboratory and is aiming at becoming carbon neutral by 2030. It is placing priority on energy efficiency, using digital technologies for power plant demand management and forestry carbon credit verification.
Robin Kennish, senior partner at ERM-Hong Kong, Ltd., warned that 90% of renewable capacity to reach the 2050 Net Zero target has yet to be built. This will cost $25 trillion, with $10.9 trillion of that in Asia. Renewable energy deployment needs to be tripled to 11,000 GW by 2030, he said. 93% of the largest 200 companies will not meet their Net Zero goals based on current emissions trajectories. He also noted that Hong Kong has a huge potential to impact Scope 3 (indirect) emissions because of its place in global supply chains and value chains.
In a second day of “deep dives” through expert-led workshops, participants focused on ESG metrics, “practical approaches” to minimizing social risks in supply chains, and how to avoid greenwashing through evidence-based claim verification. Net Zero claims can no longer be used in the European Union, due to enormous problems with transparency and greenwashing.
The risks of supply chain management remain extreme, with 169 million migrant workers in the global economy, of whom 28 million are victims of forced labor, with 15 million of those in Asia, according to Myriam Mwizerwa, head of office at the International Organization for Migration at the United Nations, who led the workshop on supply chains. She said that 52% of people affected by climate change disruption were considering migration, increasing the burden on national governments and the international system, as well as business.
The Chinachem Group was the exclusive sponsor of the event, with Kin, Hong Kong’s first sustainable food services company, serving as food and beverage partner.