MDEC, UN to accelerate sustainability, climate action adoption  

• MoU builds on existing cooperation between both organisations
• Aims to build capacity, increase sustainability adoption in the digital economy in 5 key areas 

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UN Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei (UNGCMYB) to further raise awareness, build capacity and increase adoption of sustainability and climate action across the digital economy in Malaysia.  

In a statement, MDEC said it will work with UNGCMYB to raise awareness, build capacity, and increase adoption across businesses in the digital economy in five key areas:

• Developing a climate action guide and toolkit for digital economy businesses, to help them take action and to assess their carbon footprint;
• Exploring ways to increase access to chargeable sustainability e-learning programmes for tech small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and promoting freely accessible e-learning resources, including through the Digital UNGC Academy;
• Encouraging digital economy businesses to adopt initiatives that address climate change, for example renewable energy or energy efficiency measures;
• Promoting sustainable practices among tech organisations to help them achieve sustainable performance; and
• Developing and collaborating on outreach and engagement events.

The UNGCMYB is the official local network of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), which aims to mobilise a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders.

The MoU builds on existing cooperation between both organisations, namely the Malaysia Businesses Sustainability Pulse Report 2022 with MDEC as a partner, MDEC said.

Launched on July 14, the report aims to gain an understanding of the extent of readiness of Malaysian businesses in adopting, measuring, managing, and monitoring sustainability within their respective organisations.

Chief executive officer of MDEC, Mahadhir Aziz said the public-private approach towards championing sustainable actions is imperative and has been made a national development priority as outlined in the Twelfth Malaysia Plan (12MP), which is aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“Sustainability is not a new buzzword but an important goal that goes hand in hand with the development of a thriving digital economy.” 

“MDEC is fully committed to encouraging the adoption of sustainable practices in the digital economy ecosystem,” he added.

Executive director of UNGCMYB, Faroze Nadar said, “With this partnership with MDEC we aspire that the Malaysian digital economy ecosystem will be a key catalyst for sustainable nation building and as a global contributor to achieving the SDGs.”

Malaysia remains committed to climate action and is striving to become a carbon-neutral nation at the earliest by 2050, MDEC noted.

As outlined in 12MP, the government is aiming for a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions intensity of GDP by 2030, compared to a 2005 baseline, and to achieve a 31% renewable energy mix by 2025, it added.