Eco-Business

Studio EB Small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role as the unacknowledged economic backbone of Malaysia, accounting for 38 per cent of the nation's GDP. However, these enterprises face obstacles in adopting sustainability compliance, primarily due to insufficient funding, expertise and manpower.

A smallholder farmer on a plantation in Indonesia

The Malaysian bank is the first to set decarbonisation targets for the sector, aiming to cut portfolio emissions intensity by 16 per cent by 2030. However, its commitment does not directly include smallholders, who are not within its existing base of clients.

The fear is that eateries could be incentivised to waste more food to meet the demand for refuse feedstocks. However, newer "synthetic" kerosene made from carbon gases are still in early stages of development.

As fashion brands heed environmental concerns, demand rises for greener cotton but small-scale farmers need support to tap benefits.

Oleh Robin Hicks

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Oleh Stephen Christopher, Peter Phillimore

Semua Pangan & Agrikultur Berita →

It is an open secret in climate circles that limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius is no longer possible. As COP28 approaches, we must abandon this target, which has become an obstacle to truly innovative action. Oleh Simon Zadek

If global leaders are committed to a green transition that leaves no one behind, they must address the needs of vulnerable women and girls in developing countries, who bear the brunt of climate change at the upcoming COP28 summit. Oleh Bertrand Badré dan Immaculate Atuhamize

Founder and managing director Jessica Cheam investigates the relationship between business and our natural world, and shares about the genesis of Eco-Business in this book chapter contribution to 'Peace and Nature', a book compilation of 50 essays and edited by Professor Tommy Koh, Lye Lin Heng and Shawn Lum launched in Singapore recently. Oleh Jessica Cheam

Southeast Asia must prioritise climate resilience, encompassing adaptation and mitigation. The process must be strategically managed, informed by data and applied across a broad range of solutions. Oleh Vinod Thomas

Oleh Kristina Skierka dan Aisha Mohammed Mussa

Pangan & Agrikultur

The hunger profiteers

Oleh Phil Howard dan Jennifer Clapp

Oleh Abdul Waheed Bhutto

Oleh Nora McKeon

Semua Pangan & Agrikultur Opini →

Novel food firms are dreaming big about market expansion, but first they must overcome diners' doubts and a huge cost hurdle.

Studio EB Singaporeans are well-known foodies, but around 800,000 tonnes of food is wasted every year. Why is so much food wasted, and what can consumers do about it?

The origin of Covid-19 is believed to be a market selling live wild animals. Eco-Business asked Anbarasi Boopal of Singapore-based animal welfare charity Acres about the link between the exploitation of animals and pandemics, and what can be done to curb the illegal wildlife trade.

Simon Lord and Pamela Mar on Sustainability One on One

In the first in a new video series where sustainability leaders interview each other about the toughest things about their jobs, Simon Lord of Malaysian palm oil giant Sime Darby Plantation went head to head with Pamela Mar of Hong Kong-based textile and apparel giant Fung Group.

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Studio EB Transboundary haze pollution is back with a vengeance in Southeast Asia. The Eco-Business Podcast talks to RSPO CEO Joseph D'Cruz about what the palm oil sector can do to put out the peatland fires that have burned annually for four decades.

"We are already at 1.1°C of warming – a matter of life and death for the Global South", says Professor Winston Chow, the recently appointed co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's working group on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability.

The Singapore scientist, recently elected to the UN's top climate body, tells the Eco-Business Podcast about the precarious state of climate adaptation in developing Asia. The region is not well-prepared to manage the cascading risks of extreme climate events, he says.

Studio EB Plant-based milks have grown in popularity in recent years, driven by a combination of health, environmental and practical concerns. Nutritionists on the Eco-Business podcast, produced in association with Kerry, weigh the pros and cons of non-dairy milk.

The stories of Malaysia’s indigenous tribes are now being captured through the fresh lenses of young female filmmakers. In this bilingual podcast recorded in English and Bahasa Melayu, they tell Eco-Business why they've picked up the camera.

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