Skip to content
  • Home
  • Our Work
    • Our Work
    • Climate
      • Net Zero Carbon
      • Sustainable Finance
    • Sustainability & Circular Economy
      • Sustainable Palm Oil
      • Circular Economy
    • Nature & Biodiversity
      • Illegal Wildlife Trade
      • Marine Conservation
      • Forest Landscape Restoration
    • Closer to Home
      • Future Sustainability Leaders
      • Green Cities
  • About Us
    • About us
    • Chairman & CEO Note
    • Board of Directors
    • Senior Management
    • Whistleblowing Policy
    • Personal Data Protection Policy
    • Work With Us
    • Volunteering
  • Resources
    • Resources
    • Annual Reports
    • News & Events
  • Partnerships
    • Partnerships
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Government Partnerships
Menu
  • Home
  • Our Work
    • Our Work
    • Climate
      • Net Zero Carbon
      • Sustainable Finance
    • Sustainability & Circular Economy
      • Sustainable Palm Oil
      • Circular Economy
    • Nature & Biodiversity
      • Illegal Wildlife Trade
      • Marine Conservation
      • Forest Landscape Restoration
    • Closer to Home
      • Future Sustainability Leaders
      • Green Cities
  • About Us
    • About us
    • Chairman & CEO Note
    • Board of Directors
    • Senior Management
    • Whistleblowing Policy
    • Personal Data Protection Policy
    • Work With Us
    • Volunteering
  • Resources
    • Resources
    • Annual Reports
    • News & Events
  • Partnerships
    • Partnerships
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Government Partnerships
Menu
  • Support WWF
    • Donate
    • Adopt
    • Fundraiser
Menu
  • Support WWF
    • Donate
    • Adopt
    • Fundraiser
  • Home
  • Our Work
    • Our Work
    • Climate
      • Net Zero Carbon
      • Sustainable Finance
    • Sustainability & Circular Economy
      • Sustainable Palm Oil
      • Circular Economy
    • Nature & Biodiversity
      • Illegal Wildlife Trade
      • Marine Conservation
      • Forest Landscape Restoration
    • Closer to Home
      • Future Sustainability Leaders
      • Green Cities
  • About Us
    • About us
    • Chairman & CEO Note
    • Board of Directors
    • Senior Management
    • Whistleblowing Policy
    • Personal Data Protection Policy
    • Work With Us
    • Volunteering
  • Resources
    • Resources
    • Annual Reports
    • News & Events
  • Partnerships
    • Partnerships
    • Corporate Partnerships
    • Government Partnerships
DONATE
ADOPT
SHOP

Building a future in which people live in harmony with nature

Facebook Instagram Youtube Linkedin Twitter

Home » Pathways to a sustainable future in the Heart of Borneo

Pathways to a sustainable future in the Heart of Borneo

May 8, 2012

‘Pathways to a sustainable future’ was the key theme of the Heart of Borneo Forum’s Green Economy Roundtable, co-hosted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Bringing policy, business and investment perspectives together, the Roundtable explored opportunities, challenges and priorities for creating that future.

“The ‘green race’ is on,” said Rob Evans, Technical Advisor, Sustainability and Climate Change with  PricewaterhouseCoopers Indonesia.

He said businesses are transforming to low carbon economies and becoming leading suppliers of technology and solutions, creating a market in excess of US$25 billion and growing.  Sustainable business is smart business and the Heart of Borneo provides an excellent example of these principles in action.

With definitions of green economy shifting from what it is, to how it is measured, accounting firms have an increasing role to play as organisations seek to understand their environmental and social impacts and predict the changes resulting from policy implementation.

Opportunities for action

As a country seen as one of the frontrunners in the transition to a green economy, Indonesia is undergoing major social, environmental and economic transformations which are creating a range of opportunities for financing and business action.

Some of the key opportunities covered in the session focused on the wealth of experience in the region and increasing government and business leadership on green growth, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia – and especially in the context of the Forum, in the Heart of Borneo.

Challenges

From a policy perspective, sound social policy and fundamental changes in both visible structure (e.g. physical) and invisible structure (e.g. fiscal policies, governance and lifestyles) are required before the shift towards green growth can occur.

For business, key challenges include relationship building – bridging a ‘trust gap’ between business and stakeholders – and developing a collective vision. Businesses also need to focus on developing their business strategies as they often undervalue long term trends.

Investors need to consider the amount of revenue and distribution of profit by extractive industries as well as how detailed spatial planning is by the government. This is countered by corporate behaviour being influenced by market/consumer behaviour on demand and maintaining sustainable supply chain resources.

Gordon Hewitt, ACCA’s London based, Sustainability Advisor, spoke at the round-table noting that a key challenge for Indonesia was the implementing of national strategies at local level.

In addition, Indonesia had set some very aggressive growth targets, along with some very aggressive sustainability targets, so a balance needed to be struck.

“Fundamental changes need to take place to the way in which the economy operates, which will require new business models and investment strategies.  Accountants will need to be aware of the key trends impacting their clients and offer advice accordingly,” he said.

Priorities

The Roundtable highlighted a number of key steps towards a sustainable future:

  • changing resource use trends
  • maximising investment in people
  • developing a fruitful and sustainable engagement with the business community
  • finding new growth models in Indonesia to influence public policy
  • collective efforts and common vision.

Green business sense

Credit Suisse is playing a key role in the transition to a green economy as both leader and actor. An overview of how sustainability has been integrated both internally and externally into the organisation was provided by Ben Ridley, Regional Head of Sustainability Affairs for Asia Pacific. “Sustainability makes good business sense – it delivers resource and cost savings, supports risk management, enhances business opportunities and improves stakeholder expectations”, he said.  “Credit Suisse views sustainability as a business opportunity – it is good for the environment, society and business.”

PrevBack to Previous Page
NextNext

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

RELATED LINKS

SHARE THIS

RELATED ARTICLES

WWF-Singapore’s New Private Banking Pilot Study Shows Opportunities for Private Banks in Asia to Deliver Impactful Change

June 5, 2023

WWF-Singapore and Temasek Foundation scale up youth sustainability incubator programme to include participants from ASEAN countries

May 16, 2023

WWF-Singapore’s pilot initiative shows consumers’ willingness to opt for reusable e-commerce packaging, with a return rate greater than 50 per cent

April 11, 2023
Facebook Instagram Youtube Linkedin Twitter

Help us build a future in which people live in harmony with nature

Contact Us
354 Tanglin Road #02-11, Tanglin Block Tanglin International Centre Singapore 247672

+65 6730 8100

info@wwf.sg

Our Work
  • Climate
  • Sustainability & Circular Economy
  • Nature & Biodiversity
  • Closer to Home
Menu
  • Climate
  • Sustainability & Circular Economy
  • Nature & Biodiversity
  • Closer to Home
About Us
  • About us
  • Chairman & CEO’s Note
  • Board of Directors
  • Senior Management
  • Whistleblowing Policy
  • Personal Data Protection Policy
  • Work With Us
  • Volunteering
Menu
  • About us
  • Chairman & CEO’s Note
  • Board of Directors
  • Senior Management
  • Whistleblowing Policy
  • Personal Data Protection Policy
  • Work With Us
  • Volunteering
Resources
  • Annual reports
  • News & Events
  • Blog
Menu
  • Annual reports
  • News & Events
  • Blog
Partnerships
  • Corporate Partnerships
  • Government Partnerships
Menu
  • Corporate Partnerships
  • Government Partnerships
Support WWF
  • Donate
  • Adopt
  • Fundraiser
Menu
  • Donate
  • Adopt
  • Fundraiser

©️ 2022 WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature (Singapore) Limited (UEN 200602275E) |
©️ 1986 Panda Symbol WWF – World Wide Fund For Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund) | ®️ “WWF” is a WWF Registered Trademark