CSR briefs
'Zero-waste' station At a fuel station in Saraburi, PTT is turning wastes into organic fertiliser and multi-purpose solutions.
The Cafe Amazon coffee shop is powered by solar power. High technology is being deployed to shed light on nearby communities on how they can help in turning Thailand into “a low-carbon society”.
“The station would be a prototype in disseminating knowledge on zero waste to business operators and communities nearby,” said Saran Rangkasiri, an executive of PTT. All types of wastes are recycled and reused under the “zero-waste” policy. Success at the prototype “zero-waste” station in Thailand will be replicated in other areas.
Bangkok sets ambitious plan
Think of Asia, think of Bangkok. That is the ambition the Thai capital city has set itself to achieve in the next 20 years under a 20-year master plan (2013-2022) unveiled last week by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
Designed to become “Vibrant of Asia”, Bangkok would be a safe and green city within 5-10 years.
It is set to be a metropolis for people of all ages and genders, including the underprivileged. All must have access to roads, footpaths, public space, traffic lights, mass transit, buildings and public services.
The city would see a new shape, from a single metropolis to a big city surrounded by satellite cities. The inner area would be of smaller size and less congested, while satellite cities will grow in size. Each would have its own business centres, hospitals, schools, shopping centres, and its own management system. The cities would then be connected by modern transportation that would take less than one hour of destination-to-destination travelling time.
All that was unveiled last week by Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra. All eyes are on the upcoming governor election, to see if Sukhumbhand would be re-elected to execute this master plan.
Greener aviation industry
Passengers detest planes circling above airports, waiting to land. To people in the airline industry, this is more than a headache. Poor air traffic management is leading to higher fuel bills and also high carbon emission. According to the International Air Transport Association, airspace fragmentation in Europe leads to an estimated cost of more than 5 billion euro annually in cost and the cost to the environment is 16 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Urging better infrastructure to ensure better air-traffic management, IATA urged cross-border regional thinking for the development of Asia-Pacific’s infrastructure.
“Asia-Pacific is not immune to air traffic congestion issues, and these will grow acute if they are not well-managed with a regional perspective. The Seamless Asian Sky initiative is helping to define the way forward by harmonising procedures and interoperable technology between states, bearing in mind it needs to be cost efficient at the same time. We must not repeat the mistakes made in Europe where efforts to implement a Single European Sky are stalled because states are not delivering,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director-general and CEO.
Asia risks being like Europe, he said, given the absence of civil aviation commissions that formally unite governments in delivering regional solutions.
Humanitarian exhibition
For the first time in the Asia Pacific, Thailand’s capital has been selected as the venue for the leading exhibition and conference for |humanitarian and disaster relief as well as development.
The Aid and International Development Forum (AIDF) will be first staged at Impact on January 30-31.
Oliver Lacey-Hall, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) regional office for Asia and the Pacific and |keynote speaker said, “Asia and the Pacific |are undergoing enormous change, including |in the fields of disaster management and emergency response. OCHA sees AIDF as a venue where national authorities and NGOs, regional organisations, the private sector, international agencies and others can come together and contribute to charting a dynamic and forward looking agenda to meet the region’s humanitarian and disaster management challenges in the Asian century.”
The event, organised by Aid and Trade |Limited and RMA Group in partnership with Impact Exhibition Management Co, is a platform for NGOs, governments, intergovernmental organisations, aid agencies and the UN to meet and share best practices, debate key issues in aid and international development, exhibit new technologies and services, and create new partnerships.
4th phase of CSR Day
The Corporate Social Responsibility Institute (CSRI), under The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), and Thaipat Institute are stepping up their efforts to boost awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) among listed companies.
Kicked off in 2009, the project’s first phase focused on providing knowledge and understanding of CSR to employees, called “Employee Engagement”, at the company’s location. The second phase focused on giving CSR knowledge to executives and the company’s board, called “Director Programme”, and the third phase was to give ISO 26000 knowledge and conduct CSR report, or sustainability report, for both listed companies and non-listed companies. These entailed more than 300 training events, attracting more than 12,000 participants.
In the fourth phase from 2012-2013, intensive advice would be given to companies to conduct sustaintability reports. At least 100 companies are expected to join the CSR event, 20 companies to produce sustainability reports, and another 20 to conduct the first CSR sustainability report in compliance with GRI international standards.
“Providing accurate insights on CSR to employees from the top down to the operation levels are core actions in implementing CSR concepts accurately and comprehensively, leading to creating sustainable development,” said SET President Charamporn Jotikasthira.
Pilot eco-town
Mishaps in Map Ta Phut have highlighted the need for peaceful co-existence of factories and the community.
In 2010, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) kicked off the programme to create three eco-towns in the North, Bang Poo and Rayong. In 2012, three more were launched in Samut Sakhon, Bang Chan, and Amata City. Recently, PTT joined the move, helping IEAT to develop another eco-town in Asia Industrial Estate in Rayong to promote sustainable development.
“It’s heartening to see rising awareness and commitment in the industrial sector for sustainable co-existence and improvement of nearby communities. This will reduce conflicts,” said IEAT Governor Veerapong Chaiperm.
PTT President Pailin Chuchottaworn said that the pilot project targets to reduce carbon emissions. Industrialists in the area are encouraged to produce environmentally friendly products, improve the production line to reduce waste and use energy efficiently, in line with PTT’s Green Roadmap. “This will pave the way for a true eco-town, to create confidence and push forward the industrial sector, community and society towards a sustainable path,” he said.
Disability-inclusive development
Last week, Asia-Pacific countries gathering in Korea launched a new 10-year regional strategy to realise a disability-inclusive society.
At the event convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), they launched the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities 2013-2022, which aims to accelerate realisation of the rights of the estimated 650 million persons with disabilities in the region, the majority of them poor, disadvantaged and discriminated against.
“The new decade will give greater impetus to the drive for integration of disability perspectives into national, subregional and regional development agendas across Asia and the Pacific, said Shun-ichi Murata, deputy executive secretary of ESCAP.
Under the “Incheon Strategy”, the countries are committed to more actions. This includes improving access to the physical environment, education and livelihood opportunities, greater participation in decision-making, gender equality for women with disabilities, making disaster risk reduction disability-inclusive as well as accelerating adoption and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has been ratified by only 25 Asia-Pacific countries as of October 10, 2012.
