I hope that more companies will become agents of change, especially by involving stakeholders to participate in protecting the environment and reducing environmental footprintsJakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin pressed for the need for more private companies and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to become agents of environmental change.
"I hope that more companies will become agents of change, especially by involving stakeholders to participate in protecting the environment and reducing environmental footprints," he stated at the Vice Presidential Palace, here, Thursday.
Amin made this statement at the bestowment of the 2022 Public Disclosure Program for Environmental Compliance (Proper) award as a government program for evaluating company performance in the efforts to protect and manage the environment.
"For the business world, Proper is also a platform for carrying out sustainable business practices by applying green economy principles," he stated.
According to the vice president, the Proper evaluation criteria are also getting increasingly complex with each passing year following the needs and demands of the times.
This year, for instance, the assessment includes the application of the Life Cycle Assessment criteria and the implementation of social innovation. Moreover, the green leadership category assesses the leadership of the CEO of a Gold Proper candidate company in bringing the company to meet various future-oriented criteria, such as managing energy, water, waste, and others.
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"The handling of climate change must move forward in line with the handling of various other global challenges, such as alleviating poverty and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets," Amin remarked.
Amin affirmed that Indonesia has a high commitment to the environmental sector and gives due importance to strengthening climate action.
At the event, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated that 3,200 units of corporate entities were assessed in terms of environmental performance in 2022.
Of these, based on the performance rating, 51 companies received the Gold category; 170 companies, the Green category; 2,031 companies, Blue category; 887 companies, Red category; and two companies, Black category, while 59 companies were unannounced since they were in the process of legal submission and not operating.
"The Proper Assessment is carried out by the Proper Advisory Council, which is impartial, independent, and consisting of academics and community leaders with assessment variables that develop from year to year that is arranged conceptually," the minister remarked.
According to Bakar, the "Leadership" factor is important since motivation, commitment, consistency in policies, implementation, and support allocation policies are key factors in the environmental performance of business entities.
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"The concept of 'Green leadership' in Proper performance was developed as a measure of a leader's ability to determine pro-environmental policies. A leader must be able to influence and mobilize other individuals in the organization to support these pro-environmental policies," she remarked.
A total of 15 CEOs from 99 gold candidate companies have been selected to be assessed as "Green Leaders". The 15 company leaders have gone through a series of Future Fit Society Criteria assessments that have seven basic criteria, specifically in the fields of energy, water, natural resources, waste, pollution, the fulfillment of life and ecosystem needs, and community health.
A special award for this was handed over to company leaders found to be successful and be able to inspire other individuals in preserving the environment. The award recipients were three CEOs bestowed the Main Green Leadership award and two CEOs conferred the Inspirational Green Leadership award.
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Translator: Desca Lidya N, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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