Directors of corporate entities must keep abreast of the issues relating to the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) in their respective industries to play a meaningful role in the positions and meet the demands of stakeholders. Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar said policy responses to ESG issues are still a work-in-progress in Malaysia as authorities have only made corporate firms delineate their activities in recent years. “Just like other corporate governance principles, ESG practices are still a work in progress. It is a journey for Malaysia as mandatory sustainability reporting was only made compulsory in 2016 for large-cap companies. There is a greater impetus now with the recently published update of the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance by the Securities Commission that requires greater efforts by corporate boards to ensure integration of sustainability into their businesses. Directors need to stay abreast of the sustainability issues that are relevant to their businesses and industries and they need to be much more fluent of the issues to help steer companies towards a robust performance,” she said during a virtual press briefing of its fourth AGM last Friday.

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The Malaysian Reserve