Image credit: VISEO
Allianz Malaysia Bhd (KL:ALLIANZ) won the silver award in the financial services sector at The Edge Malaysia ESG Awards 2024. This is thanks to the company’s team spirit and the commitment of its stakeholders, namely the board, senior management and operational managers.
“Pulling all these stakeholders together and ensuring that the parties involved clearly understand the objective and aims of our actions ultimately boosted the teamwork needed for this achievement. Clear direction and support from top management was also one of the key success factors,” says Allianz Malaysia Bhd CEO Sean Wang.
Key milestones include the adoption of its inaugural annual integrated report, with 60 non-financial (ESG) indicators assured by external parties. This achievement demonstrates the company’s aspiration towards integrating sustainability and ensuring more transparent disclosure.
Success consists of a lot more trials along the way. Allianz Malaysia believes that good ESG practices involve everyone in an organisation. However, creating a culture of sustainability was by far the toughest challenge.
“The operating environment we are experiencing is ever evolving, and the subject of ESG is expanding faster than ever. Hence, closing the gap on increasing regulatory requirements, building climate resilience and responding to society’s needs, while remaining a responsible insurer that delivers on time, are among our key challenges,” says Wang.
Sound judgement from top management, coupled with a clear governance structure, is a key factor that allowed us to successfully implement our strategic ESG objectives, says Wang. He adds that developing accurate targets and adopting a periodic performance management reporting mechanism ensure that the company achieves its deliverables on time and continually improves itself.
“ESG should not just be a box-ticking exercise that is isolated from business and our day-to-day lives. Embrace and holistically take the lead in the adoption of ESG, whether it be for the macroeconomy, investment decisions, or the way business and daily life are carried out,” says Wang.
Allianz Malaysia is pleased that it achieved its 2023 target of 100% renewable energy in its operations, thanks to the i-Renewable Energy Certificates.
Based on Allianz’s integrated annual report 2023, the company is also committed locally to a 30% reduction in emission intensity in its proprietary investment portfolio for listed equity and corporate bonds by 2025, based on the 2019 baseline and net zero greenhouse gas emissions in the said investment portfolio by 2050.
Ultimately, Allianz is continuing to work towards reducing emissions in its own operations by 50% by 2025.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/731426