Tree-planting campaign signifies pledge to eco-conservation
About 100 trees of the Bucida species were planted at Bintulu Civic Centre early yesterday, under the ‘Tree Planting, Protection and Habitat Restoration’ campaign.
Jointly organised by Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) and Bintulu Development Authority (BDA), the programme was aimed at promoting and cultivating deep commitment in environmental stewardship.
In the next phase, a total of 1,400 trees, comprising a mix of Bucida, Penaga, Lilil, Belian and Engkabang species, would be planted at a park in Kidurong.
Taking part in the event yesterday were SEB executive vice president for project delivery Pramod Kumar Karunakaran, BDA deputy chairman Dato Haidar Khan Asghar Khan, BDA general manager Datu Muhamad Yakup Kari and deputy general manager Abdul Rahim Abdullah, BDA assistant general managers Hasiah Morshidi (corporate services) and Prie Nyangan (real estate), SEB assistant general manager for Bintulu Chua Kim Leong, and SEB general manager for central engineering and technical assurance Abdullah Junaidi.
In his speech, Pramod highlighted SEB’s commitment of becoming a leading company in environmental stewardship for Sarawak.
“Tree-planting is part of a suite of important naturebased solutions in our goal to conserve the environment and combat climate change, especially when we do it together on a larger scale and in collaboration with our partners and stakeholders.
“No single entity can realise the critical goal for sustainable development without working together,” he said.
Pramod added that SEB had embarked on a 10-year corporate-wide integrated tree-planting, protection and habitat restoration campaign, as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability and climate change.
“The aspiration is to plant and protect 500,000 trees by 2030.
“To date, more than 79,000 trees have already been planted through cross-collaborations and initiatives undertaken by various business units.”
Pramod said in 2020, SEB became the first corporate body in Malaysia to commit to the ‘Business Ambition for 1.5°C’ pledge under the United Nations Global Compact Network.
He said by pledging to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2030, the company was setting science-based emission reduction targets across relevant scopes, in line with the Paris Agreement.
“For the record, Sarawak Energy is one of the first 30 power utilities worldwide to adopt these science-based targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“The collaboration with BDA in this area is particularly crucial in view of BDA’s capability to continuously preserve and protect the trees that we planted.
“This is to ensure successful restoration of ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, mitigate climate change, conserving forests and rehabilitating degraded habitat,” Pramod elaborated.