Petrochemical companies have committed to ambitious targets to decarbonize their operations. Achieving these targets will not be easy, and will require lot of technology and business model innovation and collaboration across the value chain.

Several abatement levers are available to petrochemical companies to abate their emissions. However, they will have to make careful choices on these levers and sequence them in a way they can start with the lowest cost levers to fund their journey and meet business ambitions. This session will dig deeper into each of the abatement levers, the technology advances which may change the dynamics of these abatement levers and how companies should begin investing today to decarbonize their operations.

Petrochemical products, for example plastics, clothing, packaging, etc., are integral to our society. The demand for these products will continue to rise with the growth in the global population. Petrochemical industry, which relies predominantly on fossil fuel as its feedstock, is under increasing pressure to tackle waste particularly plastics. At the moment, as the plastic recycling rate is insignificant, plastic waste has become one of the most pressing sustainability challenges due to its accumulation at landfills, dumpsites, waterways and the ocean.

The goal of the session is to discuss why circular economy is important to the petrochemical industry; as well as understand the status and challenges of transitioning from the current linear model to a circular ecosystem through regulatory frameworks, partnerships, technologies and collaboration.

Malaysian government has pledged various initiatives to be implemented on the three pillars of ESG, which are environmental, social and governance, reflecting its major commitment to achieve the national aspiration goals. However, with the current trajectory of stated plans, Malaysia’s goal of achieving net-zero emission is unlikely not be achieved as absolute emissions continue to rise. To achieve net zero by 2050, there is a need to increase push on technological front, for example, carbon removal technology like carbon capture and storage (CCS), as well as drive regulations and policy design from the outset to deliver green initiatives. Government is also expected to collaborate with industry to set out specific policy measures and initiatives, desired outcomes, timelines and necessary resources.

Companies currently utilize ESG for compliance reporting requirements, however ESG could play a fundamental role for evaluation by investors, customers and governmental agencies, based on regulatory requirements and policies that drive ESG across various organizations. This session aims to uncover some of the specific actions undertaken by Malaysian Government to drive ESG ambitions, initiatives undertaken by Bursa Malaysia to make Malaysia carbon-neutral by 2050, expected impact of carbon policies/ taxes and what else could Malaysia do on regulations & policy front to convert climate pledges into actions and impact.

The chemicals market conditions are undergoing profound changes in the wake of the growing call for more environmentally, economically, and socially responsible products and business practices. The goals of Green Chemistry is to minimise the environmental impact of chemical manufacturing and chemical products, from initial design to disposal. This will involve pushing the boundaries on technology, rethinking the way we operate and broaden the cooperation among various players on the value chain.

This session will discuss the Green Chemistry and some example of the sustainable solutions along the value chain, from feedstock to end users. This will include opportunities and challenges on sustainable water management, inter-play of oleochemicals and petrochemical; and green mobility to decarbonise the logistic chain.

Sustainable finance is going to fund the future of the planet, and efforts to accelerate sustainable finance have recently intensified due to its potential to promote financial sustainability, provide better risk assessment and allocate capital efficiently.

Today, we realised that various industry sectors including petrochemical sector globally, are devoted to preparing the financial sector to address climate change by forming national sustainable finance policies. Harmonization between regulators and petrochemical players is vital to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks and opportunities in all sectors. From the key regulators, Malaysia’s investment pattern is going to divert into green investment model, MIDA will be sharing the various instruments, i.e. Sustainable Responsible Investment Framework, Policies and Incentives that are aiding the growth of sustainable investment in this country. To support sustainable finance, the development of global green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds have been growing exponentially. There will be ideas on how petrochemical companies are accessible to green financing. Investment in sustainability is not limiting to cost but also opportunity gain in many perspectives. This session will also illustrate the current and future trends on how systemic banks and financial institute products and offerings, playing their crucial role and responsibilities in green financing.

In transitioning to a low carbon world, Petrochemical companies will require several new capabilities. Companies will have to think and act differently than what they have been used to historically. This shift will require upskilling current workforce as well as attracting and hiring new skillsets from the market. In addition to individual capabilities, companies will have to shift how they govern and steer their businesses and how they measure and report outcomes.

This session will discuss key capabilities related challenges facing petrochemical companies and how they can overcome them. The session will also share some of the best practices from global petrochemicals.