MRC’s sustainability framework has six main pillars, namely education development, entrepreneurship development, safety and health development, environmentaldevelopment, philanthropy and social compliance.
IN major markets for primary industries like rubber, sustainability has increasingly become a core focus.
Taking a proactive stance towards sustainability, the Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC) established the MRC Sustainability Unit and released the MRC Sustainability Development Plan in May 2021.
Aligned with MRC’s vision and mission, the new unit illustrates the council’s commitment to strategically collaborate with its partners and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to embed sustainability into its business strategy and operations, said MRC CEO Nurul Islam Mohamed Yusoff.
“As a government agency, we shall contribute to the development of a sustainable future. This requires continuous effort of how well we, as a government agency, arrive at our operational and service achievement, whilst aiming toward the creation of a sustainable economic system, green environment and prosperous society with a high level of integrity,” he said.
The aim is to create long-term stakeholder value to ensure the industry’s resilience, agility, competitiveness and sustainability through the implementation of an operational strategy that focuses on the economic, environmental, social and governance (EESG) principles.
In this, he said that the MRC Sustainability Development Plan is the foundation, with the objectives including for MRC to continue being a responsible government agency that upholds the highest standards of governance and ethics, promotes sustainable business and practices by limiting the negative impact of its business operations on the environment, as well as building and maintaining strong relationships with its stakeholders.
For the environment, it will focus on the two main areas of industry players and community by advocating awareness, while preserving the environment and promoting renewable energy.
Under the social pillar, it will focus on concerns such as child or forced labour and minimum age issues, equal opportunity, safety and health, as well as freedom of association.
For the economic pillar, on the other hand, MRC will work on the midstream and downstream sectors to sustain Malaysia’s economic position as the biggest rubber producer, as well as through entrepreneurship, by motivating low-income workers by proactively upgrading their daily lives through creating self-awareness and social building through upskilling and reskilling training programmes.
It will also establish an Integrity and Governance Unit, with the objective to uphold the highest standards of governance and ethics.
MRC will focus on holistic sustainability in line with the mission and objectives of the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) and the rubber industry, in turn positioning Malaysia as a competitive agricommodity leader with high value and sustainable agricultural products in the global market.
Targeted initiatives
Tying in with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships, MRC’s commitment towards sustainability will be focused on six main pillars, namely the development of education, entrepreneurship, safety and health, environmental, philanthropy and social compliance.
Its sustainability initiatives target gaps, issues and challenges across EESG considerations, such as emerging risks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought rise to a paradigm shift in the economy that has challenged business progress and value creation.
This will be done by addressing issues and challenges faced by its stakeholders through incorporating dedicated strategies to specific target groups initiatives covering upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the rubber industry, as well as developing a framework to measure the programme’s sustainable impact and outcome.
This year, MRC’s proposed sustainability budget and allocation is RM38.02mil, including for social compliance, education and entrepreneurship, philanthropy, as well as environmental development and safety and health development.
The budget also includes RM20.5mil for the MRC Covid-19 Assistance initiative, under which MRC has allocated RM2mil for MRC e-Learning Programme for 2,000 students to receive digital devices, with an internet data plan and free tuition for 10 subjects, to bridge the gap in education for children from B40 families in the upstream sector.
MRC will continuously contribute to the development of a sustainable future, said Nurul Islam.
Furthermore, under the pillar, MRC not only wants to assist its employees to pursue tertiary education for Masters or professional certifications, but also their children in education, as well as providing necessary education tools and proper platforms to those in the underprivileged community.
In addition to the RM260,000 allocation to its Rak Amal Kongsi Rezeki collaboration with Yayasan Amal Malaysia to meet the urgent needs of those affected by Covid-19 in terms of food supplies, there is also the council’s partnership with Pertubuhan Amal Perubatan Ibnu Sina Malaysia (Papisma).
Through this partnership, RM2.29mil has been allocated to aid the Government’s efforts to control and treat Covid-19 at Covid Assessment Centres, Covid-19 Low-Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres or three selected hospitals in Selangor, as well as strengthen capacity at public vaccination centres.
MRC through MPIC has recently contributed 10 ventilator machines totalling RM580,000 to the Ministry of Health and RM3.62mil to the University Malaya Medical Centre.
Nurul Islam points out that this is because there are human and labour rights issues, as well as a shortfall in diversity and inclusivity in the industry, education gaps, as well as workplace best practices.
Holistic development
Meanwhile, to enhance entrepreneurship skills to help elevate socio-economic status, MRC will target non-managerial industry members, smallholders and surrounding communities under the second pillar for entrepreneurship development.
By enhancing vocational skills and business projects that elevate socio-economic status, the objective is to promote self-economic growth, support smallholders in diversifying skills and unemployed in building an entrepreneurial skill set with training and continuous guidance.
When it comes to safety and health, for instance, the key is to promote and nurture a quality lifestyle and healthy working experience by working together with industry members, smallholders and the community.
MRC seeks to promote equal medical access by suggesting basic health screening for workers and smallholders; encourage active and healthy lifestyles through proper diet awareness and mental health strengthening programmes and raise awareness on its importance especially during the pandemic, via technical training to promote safe handling in workplaces.
For the environment, it seeks to address climate change, the current insufficient legal and institutional framework for waste and energy management, as well as proper measurement and management of environmental impact.
The council will focus on encouraging efficient waste management systems and technology adoption among rubber players, step up efforts on mitigating the industries environmental footprint and implement environmental initiatives in line with its business activities.
By collaborating with industry players and the community, it wants to advocate and enhance awareness while preserving the environment and promoting renewable energy.
Social compliance is also integral for MRC, as it will work together with industry players and internal stakeholders towards the path of achieving industry best practices.
This includes programmes for capacity building, namely technical training on social compliance, seminars and webinars for technical and soft skills; awareness through video commercials and other public awareness initiatives; incentives for the SBIM22 Social Compliance Standard and SBIM23 Awareness Material for Social Compliance; as well as a fund for hiring Malaysian workers to encourage rubber players to hire more locals, with RM720,000 in maximum incentive that can be claimed by one company.
Another key obstacle is in internal processes, as he said, “There needs to be data gathering mechanisms to collate and develop actionable data; integration of sustainability processes and initiatives across the industry; sufficient measurement, tracking and communication on the impact of community outreach and increased integration and collaboration with industry players.
“We plan to address this through digitalisation for process improvement, a new and improved standard operating procedure and additional reporting standards.”
Amongst the proposals that the unit is currently working on include the philanthropic pillar of the framework, which are donations and contributions for on-the-ground community-based initiatives and the Emergency Employee Assistance Programme to support its employees facing unforeseen catastrophes, in order to alleviate their burden.
Nurul Islam noted that the Sustainability Development Plan will be further supplemented by practices within MRC in managing certain sustainability matters that are considered more critical, as and when necessary.
Monitoring for improvement
To ensure that the sustainability initiatives that MRC undertakes achieve the intended objectives, MRC will implement a process flow that diagnoses problems through reviews on current sustainability practices and impact, identify issues and target stakeholders to set goals and targets that uphold its guiding principles at the strategy and plan level. This will be followed by a process review - including identification, monitoring and reporting - of current processes for non-governmental organisations, training providers, government agencies and other stakeholders to design new processes. The last aspect is assessment, where there will be regular monitoring for progress and impact.
As Nurul Islam explains, “The Sustainability Unit will address MRC’s sustainability development and initiatives as part of MRC’s business operational goals to improve the quality of sustainability-related practices and reporting.”
With an eye on impact and accountability, he stressed that the implementation of the plan will be monitored and reported consistently, whereby the Sustainability Committee will review sustainability initiatives, adhering to sustainability reporting standards and frameworks.
This also extends into the sustainability policy itself, as it will also be reviewed periodically, especially when there are changes in any applicable laws, code or regulations relevant to this policy - or at least once every three years.
