UOB Malaysia announced Thursday a collaboration with Bursa Malaysia Berhad to facilitate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in adopting sustainability practices and advancing their decarbonization journey.

The duo said in a statement that the collaboration is central to the Bank’s newly expanded Sustainability Accelerator Program 2.0 (SAP 2.0).

First launched in October 2023, SAP 1.0 was designed to equip SMEs with foundational knowledge to kick-start their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) journey, enabled through UOB’s Sustainability Compass tool (co-developed with PWC) and customized financing solutions such as the U-Series (comprising U-Energy, U-Solar and U-Drive).

Building on the success of the initial phase, SAP 2.0 takes the bank’s commitment further by providing its SME clients with access to Bursa Malaysia’s Centralized Sustainability
Intelligence (CSI) Solution, reducing complexities of emissions calculation and facilitating uptake of relevant decarbonization solutions.

“We are honored to be the first bank to partner with Bursa Malaysia,

“Under UOB’s SAP 2.0 Program, in addition to our enhanced suites of SME-centric solutions, the bank will also fund Bursa’s CSI Solution’s subscription fees for our SME clients,” said Ng Wei Wei, Chief Executive Officer of UOB Malaysia.

“Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting can be a daunting aspect of the decarbonization journey, and by lowering this barrier and helping them calculate and report their greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions more effectively, we hope to empower more SMEs to transition,

“I truly believe that strong public-private collaboration is essential to help businesses to decarbonize,” she added.

Meanwhile, Fad’l Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, said this collaboration with UOB Malaysia marks a significant step forward in expanding the firm’s CSI ecosystem to benefit a wider group of companies.

“Just as our CSI Solution has empowered public listed companies (PLCs) to meet disclosure obligations and guide their decarbonization, we are now extending the same capabilities to SMEs, enabling them to progress confidently on their sustainability journey,

“We applaud UOB Malaysia for taking proactive steps in encouraging sustainable business practices among SMEs, particularly through the use of the CSI Solution,” he said.

He said the firm looks forward to seeing other financial institutions follow suit.

These collective efforts will accelerate Malaysia’s transition to a low-carbon economy, he added.

According to the statement, the CSI Platform serves as the exchange’s designated sustainability reporting channel for all public limited companies (PLCs).

As part of this designation, the platform supports the ISSB IFRS S1 and S2 disclosure requirements adopted under the National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF).

With the Scope 3 emissions disclosure requirement commencing in phases, starting 2027, SMEs within the PLCs’ supply chains will need to be prepared to meet these reporting obligations.

The UOB-Bursa Malaysia collaboration aims to better equip participating SMEs to meet growing sustainability demands from stakeholders, including large customers like multinational corporations (MNCs) and public-listed companies (PLCs), for GHG emissions data for their Scope 3 supply chain emissions reporting, said the statement.

Besides Bursa Malaysia, UOB Malaysia has also joined forces with Control Union and DHL Express Malaysia to offer a suite of solutions in the areas of emissions data assurance, green
certifications, green logistics, energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives.

UOB Malaysia’s pioneering initiative under the SAP 2.0 program reflects the bank’s steadfast commitment to promoting sustainable practices among SMEs, contributing to the broader goal of an inclusive and sustainable future, the statement added.

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