Will equip companies in Southeast Asia with the expertise to incorporate sustainability measures in viable business models.
DNV GL - Business Assurance is opening it’s first-ever Centre for Sustainability in Singapore. The new centre, supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), will provide training programmes tailored for both Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) at different stages of sustainability practice execution in Southeast Asia. The training programmes will cover the following themes – 1) Sustainability reporting and assurance, 2) Energy and water efficiency and 3) Carbon inventory, that are especially relevant in Southeast Asia, one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
As participants, managers will learn how to incorporate sustainability practices in their business models, while maintaining, if not enhancing their bottom lines. The training curriculum offered by this centre will not only address the cost concerns that companies have with adopting sustainability practices, but will also equip participants with the right skill sets to implement initiatives specific to Asian context.
At this centre, DNV GL will also establish an “Alumni Network Initiative” to follow up with participants on their application of the sustainability knowledge gained from their programme. With time, this initiative will enable DNV GL to draw from its rich knowledge repository of highly contextualised regional case studies and best practices to continue enhancing the overall learning curriculum for its South-east Asian participants.
“The establishment of this centre is timely due to the increasing need to build sustainability competence in many organizations. This centre aims to help not just multi-national companies but also empower small & medium enterprises with the knowledge necessary to plan and implement sustainability programs. We also hope it will serve as a platform for cooperation between large corporations and SMEs to strengthen supply chain sustainability. We are strongly committed to building a centre that contributes to taking sustainability competence in the region to the next level,” said Mr Luca Crisciotti, CEO for DNV GL – Business Assurance.
Although MNCs are known for having enough resources to employ teams solely in charge of pushing for sustainability agenda (e.g. Chief Sustainability Officers), many of these teams are based outside of Southeast Asia and do not have visibility of how to incorporate sustainability practices in this region specifically. Therefore, apart from imparting best sustainability practices, this centre will provide a platform for regional representatives from MNCs and SMEs to network, brainstorm and collaborate on different sustainability-related projects. The centre is expected to be led by a seven-man team comprising of six lead trainers and one business development executive.
“Sustainability has always been at the core of Singapore’s national agenda and DNV GL’s decision to base its Centre for Sustainability for the region here adds to our strong ecosystem of solution providers and capabilities,” said Mr. Goh Chee Kiong, Executive Director of Clean Technologies at EDB. “We look forward to this centre training core executives of companies enabling them to formulate and execute their sustainability plans in Singapore and the region.”