Lyna Mohamad
Over 100 representatives from 19 organisations, including Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, Brunei Investment Agency and Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei, planted 63 bucida molineti saplings at an event organised at Taman Riadah by UOB Asset Management Brunei (UOBAM Brunei) and Green Brunei yesterday.
The event, themed ‘Forging a Sustainable Future’, was supported by Brunei Climate Change Secretariat and Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRe).
Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah officiated the event, attended by Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy (Economy) Dato Seri Paduka Haji Khairuddin bin Haji Abdul Hamid, Singaporean High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Heng Aik Yeow and UOBAM General Manager Kamal bin Haji Muhammad.
Kamal said awareness of the importance of sustainability is increasing and UOBAM recognises it has a role to play. The investment community – big or small – has a fiduciary role to play in supporting sustainability while recognising the growing emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, which can be done by channelling capital into sustainable opportunities and supporting United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), he said.
“Within UOBAM, ESG has become an important investment process, not just by encouraging the entities that we invest in to adopt ESG factors through engagement but also act as a form of risk management tool.
“At the Brunei office, we are developing our local ESG capabilities so that we can make a meaningful contribution to support our regional capabilities,” said the general manager.
Kamal pointed out that the number of trees planted yesterday may not be large in relation to the goal of 500,000 trees by 2035 set by Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy (BNCCP). However, the gathering gives the right message and highlights the importance of raising community awareness in sustainability.
“We hope this is a symbolic start that, as a community, we can work together to meet these targets. Tackling climate change can seem daunting but we believe we can contribute from ground up by encouraging local communities to play their role in a meaningful and tangible way by producing small actions that culminate in significant change overall.”
