UOB Malaysia announced on Thursday that it is working with Bursa Malaysia to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) start using sustainable practices and reduce their carbon emissions.
Both organizations said this partnership is a key part of the Bank’s newly expanded Sustainability Accelerator Program 2.0 (SAP 2.0).
Launched in October 2023, SAP 1.0 was created to help SMEs start their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. It used UOB’s Sustainability Compass tool, developed with PwC, and offered special financing options like the U-Series, which includes U-Energy, U-Solar, and U-Drive.
Building on the success of the first phase, SAP 2.0 goes further by offering SME clients access to Bursa Malaysia’s Centralized Sustainability Intelligence (CSI) Solution. This helps simplify emissions calculations and makes it easier for businesses to adopt 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 Bursar’s CSI Solution’s subscription fees for our SME clients,” said Ng Wei Wei, Chief Executive Officer of UOB Malaysia.
“Reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be a difficult part of the decarbonization process. By making it easier for businesses to calculate and report their GHG emissions, we aim to help more SMEs make the transition,”
“I truly believe that strong public-private collaboration is essential to help businesses to decarbonize,” she added.
Meanwhile, Fad’l Mohamed, CEO of Bursa Malaysia, said that this partnership with UOB Malaysia is essential in growing the company’s CSI ecosystem to help more businesses.
“Just like our CSI Solution has helped public listed companies meet their reporting requirements and guide their decarbonization efforts, we are now offering the same support to SMEs, helping them move forward confidently on their sustainability journey,”
“We praise UOB Malaysia for taking active steps to encourage sustainable business practices among SMEs, especially by using the CSI Solution,” he said.
He said the firm looks forward to seeing other financial institutions follow suit.
He added that these collective efforts will accelerate Malaysia’s transition to a low-carbon economy.
The statement says the CSI Platform is the official channel for sustainability reporting for all public limited companies (PLCs) on the exchange.
As part of this role, the platform helps meet the ISSB IFRS S1 and S2 reporting requirements, which are part of the National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF).
Starting in 2027, companies will gradually need to report Scope 3 emissions. SMEs in the supply chains of public limited companies (PLCs) must be ready to meet these reporting requirements.
The UOB-Bursa Malaysia partnership aims to help participating SMEs meet the increasing demand for sustainability from stakeholders, including big customers like multinational corporations (MNCs) and public-listed companies (PLCs), who need GHG emissions data for reporting Scope 3 supply chain emissions, according to the statement.
UOB Malaysia’s new initiative under the SAP 2.0 program shows the Bank’s strong commitment to encouraging sustainable practices among SMEs, helping to achieve the larger goal of a more inclusive and sustainable future, the statement said.
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