Petronas to deploy low carbon solutions towards 2050 aspiration

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd ( Petronas) joined forces with United Nations Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei at the recent GO ESG Asean Corporate Sustainability Virtual Summit 2020 to position sustainability at the core of business recovery efforts in Asean.

This came on the back of its Net Zero Carbon Emissions 2050 declaration in October.

In a statement yesterday, the national oil firm said the summit themed “The Business of Recovering Better –A Resilient & Sustainable Asean by Design”, held last Nov 2-30, drew both local and regional online participants.

Petronas group vice president ( Health, Safety, Security and Environment) Dzafri Sham Ahmad during the summit said Petronas’ strategy was to continue minimising the impact of its carbon footprint in existing and future operations and deploy more low carbon solutions technologies.

“We believe there are opportunities in growing our low- carbon portfolio and increasing circularity in our resource consumption to optimise costs.

“We are already seeing positive results through efforts that we have put in two decades ago to reduce emissions. Over the same period, our technology strategy also delivered improved efficiencies,” he said.

In order to achieve the 2050 aspiration, Dzafri said a concerted effort and collaboration was required between policy makers, industries, consumers and other key stakeholders.

“Collaborations will be the key driver for Petronas to grow our businesses and support a green and clean agenda together with our partners,” he added.

Meanwhile, UNGCMY&B executive director Faroze Nadar said the shift in focus from restarting to reimagining business was an opportunity to make way for a new, environmentally friendly economy “in the creation of the world we want”.

In this regard, he said it was not to recover to the old normal but resetting for a sustainable and integrated global system in the post-pandemic era.

“The summit is indeed timely as it presents a platform for SMEs and corporates within Asean to come together and demonstrate climate leadership.”

The summit featured highlevel global and regional speakers, including a pool of heads of governments, with topics curated around global sustainability megatrends, the UNGC 10 Principles and Asean priority areas.